The Ranger War
by AM83220
Summary: Sequel to the alternate universe story "And a Teenager Shall Lead Them"
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Obviously I own none of these characters

**WARNING**! I offer absolutely no guarantees, explicit or implicit, that this story will have a happy ending. If you're bothered by the prospect of evil triumphing, or of good triumphing for that matter, don't read this tale. For those with an open mind, enjoy!

Notes: This story is a sequel to the alternate universe tale, "And a Teenager Shall Lead Them." Please read that story first or you'll have no idea what's going on. If you have already read AATSLT then fasten your seatbelts because you're in for one twisty, bumpy ride to the end !

Timeline: This story begins one day prior to the final scene of AATSLT.

Posting schedule: I'll be posting a new chapter for this story every two weeks until it is finished.

Finally, special thanks to everyone who reviewed AATSLT; without your glowing reviews this sequel would never have been written.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

William Cranston removed his glasses with one hand and rubbing wearily at his eyes with the other. He couldn't keep going for much longer; he was about to drop as it was. Where was the endless energy of youth and the ability to pull all-nighters he'd read about? Didn't college students his age do that all the time?

The cheery adage "You're only as old as you feel" flashed through the genius' mind and he snorted in tired amusement. If that were true, he was even older now than he'd been when his Regenerator's side-effect had propelled him into his eighties!

Sure, chronologically he remained a fit, healthy twenty-two year-old, but that certainly wasn't how he felt inside.

'How in the galaxy had Zordon managed to handle and cope with all of this?' Billy wondered for at least the thousandth time. He had always deeply respected the extra-dimensional entity, but it was only since trying to take his place that he had learned how extraordinarily difficult the role of the Rangers' mentor was, and how amazing Zordon had truly been.

Even in his tragic death Zordon had contributed towards saving the galaxy! His martyrdom at the claws of Dark Specter, coming on the heels of Earth's fall, had at last jolted the remaining free planets out of their complacency and pushed them into uniting against the UAE. The Galactic League of Light had been born, and their first official military action had been to retake the planet Eltar, in Zordon's memory.

A pair of slender arms suddenly wrapped themselves around the blond man's chest from behind, jolting him from his train of thought. With a sigh he leaned back into that embrace, a familiar voice whispering into his left ear.

"It is time for you to come to bed, my husband," Cestria breathed in the watery tones of an Aquitan.

"Just give me five more minutes," Billy wheedled.

"One of your researchers has already succumbed to slumber," Cestria observed, releasing him and pointing to his left.

Billy glanced along the leftward length of the console to see Cestro with his head resting on his folded arms, the computer screen before him dark as his skin.

"My other one's still awake," Billy argued, motioning toward the brown-haired boy seated to his right, whose eyes were locked on the computer screen and whose fingers danced deftly across the keyboard.

"He does not sleep," Cestria pointed out sternly, and they'd been married long enough that Billy didn't have to glance back at her to know there was a frown growing on her comely visage.

"Cestria's right, Billy," the apparent thirteen year-old chimed in as he turned toward them. "You should get some sleep. After all, _you're_ only human," he finished with a sly grin.

Stranding up Billy reached out and violently ruffled the smart-aleck's artificial brown hair in mocking retaliation, making Justin laugh and duck away.

The twenty-two year-old genius knew when he was beaten, though, experience having taught him that once both of them were against him there was really no practical point in putting up any further resistance.

"Let me know in the morning if you're able to find out any more ancient Eltarian references to Morphin energy," he instructed his little protégé, and the android nodded eagerly.

Next Billy dropped a hand to Cestro's shoulder, the Blue Aquitian Ranger jerking awake at his touch.

"Time to get to bed, my friend," Billy told him gently.

Cestro nodded a bit sheepishly, getting to his feet and swiftly making his way to the room's only door.

Then Billy took Cestria's face in both of his hands, the tips of his fingers just brushing the bottom of the elaborate, tan, bumpy skull-cap all Aquitians wore, and he kissed her, pointedly ignoring the loud gagging noises coming from behind him.

Arm and arm the couple left the massive computer which took up the whole of the western well, passing the viewing globe and the teleporter controls standing in the center of the Command Chamber, and going out into the hall, walking the final few dozen feet to the front door of their living quarters.

After their lovemaking Cestria fell quickly asleep in Billy's arms, smiling contentedly. For him, in spite of his deep weariness, the peace of sleep was far more elusive. As happened almost every night now his mind was refusing to shut down. It kept whirling through various possibilities, linking scientific principles with ancient legends, postulating theories of vulnerabilities he hadn't yet explored, relentlessly seeking to craft a coherent, workable solution to the scourge of the Psycho Rangers.

Only the certainty that Justin would rat him out to Cestria in the morning kept Billy from getting out of bed and returning to the Command Chamber. If he couldn't sleep, why shouldn't he work? The beautiful, simple logic of that proposition, however, had weeks ago been defeated by his wife's stubborn insistence that once he went to bed, he stay there until morning. So he would, in the hopes that he might perhaps get to sleep at least soon enough to alleviate some of the exhaustion he was feeling before he rose again tomorrow.

Although he'd been teasing when he'd said it, Justin was right: Billy was only human. He needed sleep, sleep he hadn't been getting enough of for a long time. He'd considered taking sedatives, assuming he could find some which would work properly on his alien physiology (here on Aquitar _he_ was the alien), but he feared they might end up temporarily dulling the mental acuity and intellect he relied upon so heavily.

'And what do you think being overtired is doing to you?' his mind asked in his wife's arch tone.

Yet he was so close! The answer was out there, somewhere just beyond his mental grasp; he was sure of it! Knowledge was power; Billy had believed in that dictum all of his life, with every atom of his being. All he had to do was discover that one more bit of knowledge, the one which would break this stalemate and end the threat of the Psycho Rangers forever.

He had to be the one to finish it, since he'd had a hand in creating it.

Billy unconsciously clung tighter to the love of his life as that unspeakable truth once more echoed through him. Guilt was a non-productive emotion, he'd told himself firmly over and over again. It changed nothing, but he couldn't help feeling it all the same, as he had ever since the liberation of Eltar by the Galactic League of Light.

During his last year on Earth he'd been working feverishly on a project which had consumed much of his time. He had told no one about his goal except Zordon and Alpha 5, and he hadn't been able to finally achieve it until he was on Aquitar, with access to that world's technological advances and information.

When he was sure his somewhat revolutionary new principles were sound and that his tiny prototype was functionally correctly, he had transmitted the schematics for the full-sized version, the morphers, and the Zords back to Earth.

It was his final parting gift to his friends and former teammates, by far the greatest of all his many inventions: a new source of Morphin power, one which when built would rival the Zeo Crystal itself in terms of energy output!

He had known his absence would be felt in the Power Chamber, that the lack of his technological know-how would seriously hurt the team; sending them his breakthrough was his way of at least partially making amends for his departure.

Zordon had arranged for the morphers and Zords to be assembled on Eltar and teleported to Earth. The new source of their power, the mighty, multi-story Turbo Turbine, had also been constructed on Eltar, since that was the safest place in the galaxy for it-or so everyone had believed.

When Dark Specter's forces had taken the planet they'd found and deactivated the Turbo Turbine, depriving the Earth Rangers of their powers. Thankfully soon after that they'd found Andros, gaining from him the Astro powers to replace their lost Turbo powers.

Two years later, when the GLL forces had retaken Eltar, Billy and his wife had been aboard the flagship, ready to work to salvage what technology and intelligence they could from the world. Delphine had sent for Billy before the fighting was fully finished, asking that he teleport to the massive palace the UAE had constructed on Eltar. The White Aquitan Ranger had assured a worried Cestria that the palace was secure and after he arrived Delphine had soon shown Billy why she had requested his presence.

At the heart of the palace was a throne room meant for the UAE's ruler. The beautiful white marble walls of the vast, stadium-sized chamber were blackened with numerous laser blasts, its floor strewn with Quantron parts and rubble; this was where Dark Specter's palace guard had made their last stand. The true area of interest, however, was not on the floor, but in the wall.

Built into the right wall near the thirty-foot tall throne was a kind of gruesome trophy case consisting of five differently colored metal doors, each with a huge circular transparent window set in the upper half. Only these niches didn't contain sports awards; they held the bodies of five Rangers.

Even now he could remember the terrible shock he'd felt at the sight of a dark, dead face which only a few weeks ago he'd seen on his laboratory viewscreen. The Blue Astro Ranger had commed Billy from Earth, desperate for help, and he had done the best he could to aid T.J. and Cassie. Had T.J. already been found and killed so soon, his corpse brought here for Dark Specter to display and gloat over?

Billy had instinctively looked away and in the viewing portal of the next door he had spotted Cassie with her head cleaved in two, interior circuitry visible in both halves.

That was when he'd realized with a rush of relief that these weren't humans beings exhibited in grisly triumph; they were androids.

"I though you might be able to do something for them," Delphine had explained, her tone a mixture of apology and a touching, humbling faith that he had the skills to somehow fix even this.

He'd had no chance to answer, since word had come at that moment that League forces penetrating the subterranean bunker housing the massive Turbo Turbine had discovered that it was still running!

Learning his invention was still operating had come as a second shock. He'd figured the UAE had destroyed it or at best had left it to gather dust once they'd turned it off.

When he got to the bunker he examined the controls carefully and soon determined that the turbine was sending energy to five active morphers in various places on Earth.

Most of the Rangers of Earth were gone, and they hadn't been using the Turbo powers anymore anyway. So what could-

Then it had hit him, harder than any blow he'd ever taken. The Psycho Rangers, the dark counterparts who had destroyed most of the Astro Ranger and made the conquest of Earth possible. They were drawing power from HIS invention!

Billy's next action had been to run the abbreviated emergency shutdown procedure, his hands trembling and his head pounding. He had been consumed by the drive, no, by the _need_, to stop those monsters from continuing to utilize his ideas and inventions for their own twisted ends.

When the Turbine at last spun to a halt his deep and overwhelming sense of shamed guilt had been briefly eclipsed by a primal, savage satisfaction. Let's see how the Psycho Rangers liked that!

He'd gone back to the palace then, to thoroughly examine the remains of the fallen Robot Rangers.

T.J. had been intact from the mid-chest upward, but that portion of him rested on an interior shelf in his alcove. The rest of him was in pieces at the bottom of the capsule, having been blown apart by some sort of explosion.

In addition to a badly damaged left arm, Cassie had been split entirely in two lengthwise.

Carlos' head had been crushed almost to the thickness of a sheet of paper and he was missing the ends of both arms.

Justin had taken a laser blast to the chest, one powerful enough to melt a fist-sized hole through him. A steel spur from the wall jutted out grotesquely through that hole, keeping his shorter body suspended in his alcove at the same eye-level height as the other Rangers.

Ashley had been hit directly in the abdominal power source with some kind of piercing weapon and had gone offline almost at once, leaving her the least damaged of the five.

He had spent days thoroughly mapping out their operating systems, examining the intact portions of each one in order to develop and draw up a complete composite design schematic of a functioning, intact android. When he was sure he understood the hardware behind them he began studying and scrutinizing their software, their programming and memory.

Fifteen days after he had first laid eyes on them he replaced Ashley's power source and rebooted her. The rest of the Robot Rangers followed, as quickly as he could repair them. By then Cestro, the Blue Aquitar Ranger, had been free to help him, the Rangers having finished their task of seeking out and destroying the last pockets of resistance on Eltar.

Billy by then knew what had happened, given his perusal of Ashley's memory banks. Dmitria had developed and created these androids, fashioning them to be exact replicas of the second Turbo team, not only in terms of appearance, but also mentally. With her Rangers' consent she had copied their minds into these artificial forms and entrusted them with newly built Turbo morphers. There had even been a test run on Earth to make sure everything was functioning properly. Then the Robot Rangers had been shipped to Eltar to aid in the defense of the planet. They'd been there when the United Alliance of Evil had descended in numbers too overwhelming to resist. They'd resisted anyway, and had been destroyed for it.

He could easily hypothesize what had come next. The Robot Rangers' morphers had been stripped from their remains. The devices must have been altered extensively, but clearly they were still powered at least in part by the Turbo Turbine. Those changed morphers had then been used to create the Psycho Rangers.

In an indirect and unforeseen way, Billy's present to the heroic protectors of his home planet had ended up killing most of them and ensuring the brutal conquest Earth.

This grim realization had nearly broken him. Without Cestria's unwavering support and the urgent imperative of rebuilding the Robot Rangers he honestly didn't know if he would have made it.

He had loved Cestria from almost the moment he had laid eyes on her; she was the whole reason he had chosen to stay on Aquitar. And apart from the fact that the five androids deserved more for their heroism than violent deactivation, the Galactic League of Light needed the help of the Robot Rangers

Because the Psycho Rangers would be coming.

Not immediately, not after Billy had shut off what he hoped was their primary power source. By doing so he had bought the GLL some much needed time, but no more than that. Sooner or later the UAE leadership would find a new source of energy for their champions. Then the Aquitan Rangers would be up against the team who had already slain most of the Astros. Billy wasn't about to let them face that kind of threat alone, not if he could help it.

He and Cestro had worked day and night for months rebuilding the fallen Rangers. They'd largely succeeded, but some things simply couldn't be fixed. Cassie had suffered a serious loss of memory and almost nothing on Carlos' main drive had been salvageable. The two were still able to act as Rangers, but Carlos' personality had been effectively lost and Cassie had what amounted to partial amnesia.

The other three Rangers had been devastated by seeing their teammates' fates, more so than by their own "deaths". T.J had taken out his feelings in training and sparring, Ashley had taken to looking after the two in spite of the pain it had caused her, and Justin had spent his time developing a new separate memory storage system to "back up" his, Cassie's, Ashley's and T.J's central processors.

Billy had never had the pleasure of meeting the "human" Justin Stewart, a fact he increasingly regretted the more he came to know the robotic version of the boy. In several ways he was almost painfully like Billy at that age: the genius IQ, the startling mechanical and technical aptitude, even the seeming inability to connect with others of his own age, or at least of his apparent age.

In other ways, however, he was completely different, like in his hunger for a father figure and in the bright, childish enthusiasm which shone out as such an integral part of him. Taking Justin under his wing had been so easy and natural Billy had barely realized he was doing it, not until one night at dinner when Cestria had jokingly asked him what he and his "lab assistant" had worked on today.

With Justin and Cestro's capable aid Billy had assembled five new Turbo morphers in record time and had reset the Turbo Turbine to emit on a different frequency than before. He had personally asked each android if they were willing to be a Ranger again, and each one had acquiesced. He had given them their new morphers and the Robot Rangers had rejoined the ranks of the defenders of the galaxy.

Integrating them with the Aquitan Rangers had proven to be a more difficult undertaking, however. Not due to any real antipathy between the two groups, but merely because they were so _different_.

The telepathy which Aquitans used for so much of their interaction was useless in communicating with the Robot Rangers. The Robot Rangers, for their part, were adapting to a whole new society and species, and as mechanical beings they were understandably uneasy about living in a fortress located beneath the surface of an ocean and replete with pools of water everywhere (Which was why the first modification Billly had made to them subsequent to their reactivation was to cover up the exposed inner workings in their chest area with a layer of impermeable synthetic skin).

As a human who had nonetheless chosen to live out his life on Aquitar, who had rebuilt the Robot Rangers, and who had won the respect of the Aquitan Rangers years prior, Billy quickly realized he was the being best situated to act as a bridge between the two groups, to advance their understanding of each other.

How this had led to him slipping into the role of mentor to the united team was something his genius intellect was to this day still struggling to understand.

He'd always thought of himself as the tech support. Thus it was only natural for him to construct a new Viewing Globe, develop a cloaking device based on the Phantom Ranger's technology, and maintain the teleporter, Battle Borgs, even the Robot Rangers themselves! This was his realm of expertise and he was quite comfortable there. He was far from comfortable acting as the guiding force of the GLL's only hope, but he did it, because the Rangers wanted him to, because his wife continually encouraged him to, and because . . . there was no one else. Not anymore.

Zordon was dead, his energy drained away by Dark Specter. Dimitria was also gone, having died resisting the invasion of Eltar. Ninjor too was dead, slain by the Red Psycho Ranger almost a half a year ago now in his own temple. He was literally all that was left, worthy of the position or not.

The galaxy's losses since the war began had been truly staggering. Millions of beings had been killed, entire planets conquered and enslaved. His own homeworld had fallen to occupation, with only two Astro Rangers left there in hiding to try to turn the tide.

The GLL had won victories too: the liberation and continued safety of Eltar, the capture and imprisonment of Divatox, the blowing up of Sprocket. Yet the war raged on regardless.

Billy was certain the key to bringing the conflict to a close lay with the Rangers, Light and Psycho both.

Many would dispute his conclusion, arguing that in a war of tens of thousands, a mere handful of fighters on either side could not possibly have any real effect on the outcome, but those people didn't have access to the same information Billy did.

Few the Rangers indeed were, but each was the wielder of great power. In the vanguard of an invading or defending army they acted as an incredible force multiplier, enormously enhancing their side's ability to deal damage.

And the morale effect of the Rangers' presence was virtually incalculable! The faith and trust that the peoples of the Galactic League of Light put in their Rangers was matched only by their terror of the Psycho Rangers. And on the UAE side the Psycho Rangers performed a key role in suppressing treachery and dissent among the Alliance's many ambitious leaders, while also keeping the conquered subject populations fearful and compliant.

Billy had run countless simulations and statistical analysis programs over the past two years, every computer model bearing out what he had suspected from the beginning: Whichever side lost their Rangers would almost certainly lose everything. At its most basic and fundamental level, this galaxy-spanning struggle was in reality a Ranger war.

Only days ago it had seemed that the UAE's loss of the Psycho Rangers might finally be at hand. Even with the destruction of the Blue Senturion and the Phantom Ranger obviously unavailable for combat, the Light Rangers and the Gold Ranger had bested the UAE's foul doppelgangers time and again, dispatching their accompanying monsters and forcing the Psycho Rangers' masters to pull them from the field in defeat. Victory had appeared inevitable, so much so that for over two months the Psycho Rangers hadn't even so much as shown their helmets!

Then only ten days ago there came the sudden, overwhelming assault on Triforia while Trey was there, putting an end to the hope of imminent triumph-and putting an end to the noble Gold Ranger as well. That the GLL had been able to retake half a dozen planets and seize a sizeable advantage in naval positioning and numbers seemed scant comfort for the loss of their most powerful ally and his homeworld. It was all the more agonizing because the apparently abrupt nature of the decision had led to the invasion occurring before his source could get word of it to him.

He had anticipated that the Psycho Rangers would then assail the Light Rangers to exploit their momentum, but according to his most recent intelligence the Psychos were remaining on Triforia. At least they were all there except for the Blue Psycho Ranger; there was no hint as to where he was; in fact he'd been missing since the Psychos' last battle with the Light Rangers.

That bit of data worried Billy deeply. Given the meaning of the various colors even among the Psycho Rangers, the Blue one was the enemy he _least_ wanted to be out of his sight!

What was the UAE planning? And would he and the Light Rangers be able to successfully counter whatever scheme was in the works?

With a sigh he opened his eyes. As they adjusted to the dark Billy gazed at the varying shades of blue spread throughout the room, allowing the sight to soothe him and hopefully bring him a step closer to at least a troubled sleep.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Reclining on his comfortable bed Justin Stewart, the Blue Psycho Ranger, was leisurely perusing Sun-Tzu's "The Art of War".

It was amazing how applicable much of Sun Tzu's advice remained, many centuries after it had been written. It was fortunate indeed that the brilliant strategist had lived so long ago; had he been alive today Justin would have needed to kill him as a simple precaution.

The Blue Psycho Ranger's idle musings were interrupted when the door to his room slid open. A tall teen in a sleeveless, shimmering golden shirt, black jeans, and custom black and gold sneakers entered, looking down on the six foot two, muscular, blue-clad and brown-haired adolescent.

"Done," Fred announced. "I put my dad right next to yours, just like we planned."

"Good," Justin complimented him, memorizing his page number and shutting the book. "Did you have any problems?"

"No," the Gold Psycho Ranger replied. After a brief pause he asked, "This was necessary, right?"

"Absolutely," Justin affirmed as he sat up on his bed. "Thanks to Stone my Dad knew too much and it only made sense to take care of yours at the same time rather than leave him running around Angel Grove. Better safe than sorry, Fred."

"I guess so," the seventeen year-old concurred, his right leg stretching back behind him to hook a chair and bring it forward in one easy, athletic motion. Dropping into it he began to voice his objection. "It's just . . . "

"Go on," Justin encouraged him.

"I don't even know if he's going to _like_ Miami."

"Like it or not, it's the best place for him. There's zero rebel activity there, almost no occupying presence, he's got credits enough to last him a lifetime, and he's got my Dad in the condo next to him for company. They can reminisce together about their heroic rebel sons."

A snort of laughter escaped Fred before he could help it. That description had been true of him only a week ago, but thanks to Justin he was on the winning side now.

Unfortunately that wasn't something Dad would be able to understand, anymore than Justin's dad could. Hence the elaborate facade of them separately "rescuing" their fathers from the UAE and bringing the two safely to Miami to live under alternate identities. It gave the fathers a plausible reason for their boys' absence, kept them away from rebel involvement, and, with the concealing wizardry Justin had pulled off with the central computer, put them safely out of reach of anyone who might want to use them against the two Psycho Rangers. Later, after the war was won, maybe they could open their fathers' eyes the same way his own and Justin's had been. For now this would have to do.

"I gotta say, though, this was a whole lot less fun than fooling Cassie," Fred commented ruefully.

"It'll always be more fun to trick someone you hate," Justin pointed out logically. "Tomorrow should be the most fun of all, though."

"Why? What's happening?"

"Now that we're done here we'll leave tomorrow at eight A.M. from the spaceport with the next shipment of Quantrons bound for Triforia and the Dark Fortress. Once the entire team is assembled we'll be able to strike at the Light Rangers."

"Why aren't we teleporting to Triforia?" the new Psycho Ranger asked curiously.

"Because teleportation beams can be detected, traced, and sometimes even interfered with," Justin explained. "We try not to do interplanetary teleporting unless we have to. It's safer and subtler to take a ship. As a wise man once said, war is deception," he declared, holding up _The Art of War_.

The seventeen year-old nodded in understanding as Justin went on.

"Hopefully by this time tomorrow we'll have slaughtered the Light Rangers. You ready to stomp some tin cans and gut some fish?"

"More than ready," Fred asserted to his friend, his expression one of rapt, eager anticipation. Thanks to his neural net Fred loathed the Light Rangers as much as any other Psycho, and he was obviously dying to figuratively flex his new muscles for the whole of the UAE to see.

"Better make sure my skills are up to the challenge, though," he continued unexpectedly. "Feel like sparring again?" the darker-haired boy invited with a wicked grin.

Justin frowned in reply, unconsciously wincing at the invitation. He'd won their first sparring match in the mountains, but that had been before Fred had assumed the mantle of the Gold Psycho Ranger. Every time they'd fought since then the now-empowered Fred had beaten Justin with humiliating ease. The Gold Psycho Ranger powers were insanely potent and Fred's almost instant expertise in using them was nothing short of remarkable!

Again Justin wondered irritably why Dark Specter had thought it necessary to modify the Gold Ranger's staff rather than using the spare Blue Morpher. They could have taken the Light Rangers with just a normal Psycho Ranger addition; they didn't need a fucking Super-Psycho!

And he didn't need to be battered into insensibility again and again as Fred gloatingly flaunted his newfound might either! He could only be thankful that he'd had the foresight to give Fred a neural net like his own rather than the standard template; the thought of _Fred_ with the overwhelming bloodlust, violent rage, and notable lack of self-control of a standard Psycho Ranger was enough to make even Justin squirm uncomfortably.

"How about a game of chess instead?" he challenged, and now it was the young Kelman's turn to scowl.

After the other boy's neural net was implanted he had required time to come to grips with his altered feelings, to abandon his old ways of thinking. That he would do so was never in doubt; in fact it was inevitable! Emotions were the motivating fire of humanity, and Fred's flame had burned particularly bright. The passionate intensity which had led him to dedicate his life to freeing humanity had simply been redirected to the pursuit of his own enjoyment. With his conscience gone, with violent hate for his old companions and all rebels inserted into his mind and with a dozen other emotional modifications in place it was impossible for even the strong-willed seventeen year-old to hold on to his former allegiances. How could he, when he utterly despised them now?

Justin had both eased and sped the transformation by introducing Fred to all of the many pleasures a champion of the United Alliance of Evil could expect, the first being a sumptuous celebratory feast. After days of intravenous feeding, the dark-haired teen had ravenously devoured the delicious food set before him. His new accommodations were of the highest quality, done in a psychologically pleasing gold and black color scheme with pure silk sheets covering the cloud-soft mattress of his king-sized bed.

That bed had seen a lot of use in the past week. Since the new Psycho Ranger had not yet been ready to select his own choices from among Earth's population, Justin had, in an act of true friendship, gritted his teeth and shared his harem with his ally. Fred had enjoyed that a lot.

They'd also indulged in a variety of sports and games, Fred's competitive streak, natural adeptness, and Psycho-enhancements making him a more than worthy opponent in almost all arenas-except that of chess. He had never played the game before, while Justin had played frequently with his father. He was admittedly a bit rusty, not having sat behind a chess board for years, but he had still demolished his new friend in less than twenty moves.

The power-packed teens glared heatedly at one another for a moment.

"_Mortal Kombat_?" Fred offered at last.

"Deal!" Justin agreed, setting Sun-Tzu's book on his nightstand and rolling off his bed to get out the controllers.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	2. Chapter 2

"Easiest battle I've ever been in!" Fred boasted seconds after the three Psycho Rangers had rematerialized in the _Envenomed Blade_'s wardroom.

The teen was in exuberantly good spirits, and why shouldn't he be? Although he'd understood the strategic necessity of it, the limited strikes from hiding which the resistance had mounted had always frustrated and chafed at him. Now he was taking on his foes directly and fucking _wrecking_ them! That was how you waged war!

Justin demorphed almost immediately, which was odd since he'd told Fred a few days ago that, for safety's sake, Psycho Rangers almost never demorphed outside of their own private quarters.

The Red Psycho Ranger, facing him directly, did not demorph and Fred was admittedly in no hurry to do so either. The amount of sheer **power** he felt in his morphed form was practically addictive!

"I'll report to Queen Astronema that our mission was accomplished," the Red Psycho Ranger announced, and even underneath the electronic tone Fred thought he could hear a sneer.

The reunion between the sensei and his former student had not gone well. The calm, patient, encouraging martial arts mentor the teenager fondly remembered was no more. Tommy was a barely-contained inferno of angry aggression now, and he treated his old pupil with unmasked disdain and superiority.

For his part Fred found himself deeply resenting Tommy's failure to bring him into the Power Rangers, especially given what Tanya had told him in the aftermath of Ivan Ooze's defeat. Yes, Justin had indeed deserved to be a Ranger, but so had he! Tommy should have recruited him the next chance he had. Instead the dark-haired leader had left him to rot and it was only thanks to Justin that he was now finally enjoying the position and abilities he should have held for years.

"Tell her to send me alone next time; you guys slowed me down," Fred quipped, digging the verbal knife in far deeper than he ever had while kidding that dead bitch Karen.

Tommy spun around, going into a fighting stance, but Fred was already prepared for an assault from the volatile leader.

What he wasn't prepared for at all, however, was an attack from behind.

Something swept against the back of his legs and he hit the deck hard. The next thing he knew Justin's left arm was down across his neck, though with the protection of his neck guard he felt no pressure.

"Red Psycho is our leader. Keep pissing him off and you'll end up in more pieces than most of the Sekarian royal family."

In shocked anger at this unexpected betrayal Fred seized Justin's wrist, prepared to break the hold across his neck and probably several bones as well. Justin was a total idiot to attack while unmorphed! As the Gold Psycho Ranger could rip the other boy's entire arm off with almost no effort!

Except Justin had to know that, Fred realized abruptly, and in truth the other boy was the exact opposite of an idiot; he was a genius! So why would he do something so stupid?

His hand still clenched tightly around Justin's wrist, he looked up into his teammate's impassive face, trying to understand . . . and he caught a wink.

"Remember the lesson our Blue Ranger is teaching you, Fred," Tommy sneered down from above him. "It could save your life."

The leader kicked hard at the groin of the prone Ranger before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Fortunately Fred's armor protected him from almost all of the force of the impact.

Justin released his hold the instant Tommy left the room and stood, bravely offering a hand to Fred. Resisting the temptation to pull Justin down full force onto the steel deck, the Gold Psycho Ranger rose up like a gathering storm and glared at his friend.

"Let's go to my quarters," Justin suggested. Fred followed behind, grinning slightly at the way Justin rubbed at the wrist he'd seized. The sight brought back fond memories of his last day with Cassie.

The two did not speak again until the light gray of the corridor gave way to the varying blue hues of Justin's private chambers. The _Envenomed Blade_ cruiser was the usual transport for the Psycho Rangers, and hence each member had his own room, decorated to his or her tastes. Well, except for Fred, but that would change very soon.

And because the _Envenomed Blade_ was the Psycho Ranger transport of choice, no one had blinked an eye when Justin had ordered that the new Quantrons transported with him from Earth should replace the ones previously crewing the ship. The Psycho Rangers deserved the best and newest of everything, after all.

"I'll give you a chance to morph now, so I don't splatter you across that bulkhead when I hit you," the Gold Psycho Ranger generously offered, pointing to the far wall of Justin's room as he spoke.

"Will you at least listen to my reasons first?"

Leaning back against the wall, his staff pointing menacingly at Justin's face, Fred warned him, "This better be _great_."

"Tommy was about to attack you. What I did stopped him in his tracks and made him think that I was on his side."

"You _were_ on his side!" Fred growled. "You should have let him attack me! I could have taken him!"

"I know you could have, Fred, but you don't want to, at least not yet."

"Why the hell not?" the Gold Psycho Ranger demanded in open exasperation.

"Sekarias didn't have to be dealt with now. This mission was a test for you, one set by Tommy. If you'd killed him immediately afterward Dark Specter would probably think that either you'd failed it or that you were too dangerously unstable even to be a Psycho Ranger. He'd have taken your powers away, Fred," Justin concluded gently.

"If you beat Tommy and didn't kill him, though, he'd rally the other Psycho Rangers against you. Even you'd have a hell of a tough time facing all of them at once, and we can't afford to be divided against each other, not when we still have the Light Rangers to annihilate!"

Fred stood silently for a moment, studying the brown-haired adolescent through his helmet's visor, considering what he'd been told.

"So you're saying what? That I've gotta bow and scrape to Tommy forever even though I'm stronger than he is now?"

"Not forever, just for a little while. Tommy's reign as leader is coming to an end."

Seeing his friend stiffen in surprise Justin went on quickly. "He's not going to forgive you for being more powerful than him, Fred. He'll make sure that you always know your "place"; under him. With how much you love showing off I don't think you'll be able to put up with that for long. Am I wrong?"

"No, you're right," the other teen admitted, his posture losing its adversarial bent. "I can't help it, Justin. After going from cowering under that illusionary dome for so long to _this_ . . ."

"I understand," the Blue Psycho Ranger sympathized, and he truly did; he'd been the exact same way when he'd gotten super-strength from that mutant ant-bite all those years ago.

"Tommy isn't a worthy leader anymore anyway, not with the way his neural net works. You and I are the only sane ones, the only people fit to lead this team. It's up to us to get rid of the current Red Psycho Ranger."

There it was, out in the open. Left unsaid was the fact that Justin intended to take Tommy's position himself rather than let Fred assume the mantle of leadership. There was no need for his friend to know of that yet; when the time came the Gold Psycho Ranger would have no choice but to accept Dark Specter's decision.

"You mean kill him?!"

"Yes. The two of you can't co-exist, and I pick you, Fred."

"Thanks, Justin," he said quietly. He demorphed, resuming his normal form and banishing his staff to the pocket of extra-dimensional space it occupied when he didn't immediately need it. "What's the plan?"

"For now let's look an opportunity to kill him during a fight in a way that can't be linked to us. If nothing comes up soon we'll explore other options. Sound good?"

"Yeah," Fred agreed, stepping forward and abruptly snap-kicking the other teen in the torso. The Psycho Ranger doubled over and Fred lashed out with his right fist, sending the genius adolescent crumpling to the deck.

When he had finally caught his breath Justin glared murderously up at his teammate.

"Come on, I told you before that no one does something like that to the Gold Psycho Ranger and gets away with it," Fred chided with a teasing grin.

In a virtual mirror image of what Justin had done mere moments before, Fred graciously extended a hand downward to the teammate he had felled. The Blue Psycho Ranger took it, and was surprised at the ease with which the other boy hauled him to his feet. When they'd met Fred had been fit and lean, but now the biceps on his bared arms were considerably larger than Justin remembered from their sparring match on the mountain. Were the beneficial physical side-effects of being a Psycho Ranger manifesting for him this quickly?

Disgruntled though he was at being caught off-guard, Justin was mostly relieved that he hadn't suffered far worse injury. He never would have dared do to an ordinary, frothing-at-the-mouth Psycho Ranger what he had done to Fred. Even with Fred, rational, clear-minded, and programmed to think of Justin as a friend, there had been a risk. He could have acted on his anger, but the seventeen year-old hadn't let Justin down. He had figured out that there was more going than there appeared to be and had actually let Justin explain before taking vengeance. He was even going to help Justin destroy the Red Psycho Ranger! Between Justin's brains and Fred's brawn, Tommy didn't stand a chance!

It gave the brown-haired teen a warm feeling inside to once again be working toward the same goal with a genuine teammate, an ally he could like and trust. How had he ever managed to go for so long without having a friend like Fred?

The answer undoubtedly lay in the structure of his previous neural net. With extreme bloodlust and aggression as your dominant emotions you didn't generally feel the need for companionship, friendship, or indeed an entire host of other things. It made for a satisfying existence in its way, but such a narrow one! This was better; it was much better.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Opening his eyes Billy glanced over at the chronometer sitting on the small bedside table. Wha . . . he'd overslept! His left hand scrambled at the device, checking the alarm setting. It was set correctly, but the alarm switch had been flipped to off, and he had a pretty good idea of who had done it.

After a quick shower, tooth-brushing, shaving and all of his other morning routines Billy got dressed and headed for the kitchen, from which the scent of fried tagor eel was already drifting throughout the apartment. His favorite breakfast (living on Aquitar had required him to adjust his palate considerably). To Billy this was as good as an admission of guilt

Turning from the stove as he entered the room, the woman he loved shot him a brilliant smile, and for a moment the young adult forgot all about being annoyed.

"Good morning, my love. Did you sleep well?"

"I slept too long," Billy replied meaningfully, taking his place at the table. "Someone switched off my alarm."

"But did you sleep well?" the dark-haired beauty persisted, skillfully using a spatula to flip an eel from the skillet to the plate in her left hand and then repeating the trick. "Did you fall asleep quickly last night, without trial or difficulty?"

There was only one answer he could make to that question, and to avoid having to give it the glasses-wearing, light-haired man looked down at the plate she put in front of him, and the glass of water she set next to it. Aside from a brief grace the only sound in the kitchen for some minutes was the scraping of utensils and the eating of eel. When Billy had finished he looked up to find his spouse sitting in her place across from him, her head cocked in that curious way Aquitans were so prone to do and her eyes upon him as she patiently awaited his answer.

"No, I didn't," he admitted at last.

"Then you needed more rest, did you not?"

"I needed to get up at the proper time to continue my research," Billy protested.

"Then why do you not have Cestro awaken at the same hour as you? Is he not helpful, not an asset to you?"

"Of course he is!"

"Then why do you allow him to sleep later?"

How on Aquitar had this gotten turned around on _him_?

"Because . . ." Billy began and stopped.

"Because he needs rest to do his best work, and so do you," Cestria admonished.

Checkmate, Billy conceded with an inward sigh.

"Don't you get tired of taking care of me?" he asked wryly.

Standing up she walked around the table, leaned down, and gave him a quick kiss.

"While I was a Ranger I protected this entire planet and eventually I did grow weary of that duty and responsibility. Now I protect you, even from yourself, and that I will never tire of, my husband."

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Command Chamber, the living quarters, Billy's lab, the medical wing, and the recreational area for the Light Rangers were all within the same small section of Inqertus, Aquitar's largest on-planet military base. Centuries of practice and tradition dictated that Aquitar's Rangers were not subordinate to the planet's military, but they did cooperate closely with it and with the rest of the League's forces. He met regularly with the GLL's highest-ranking officers and the smooth coordination this had produced had proven essential in prosecuting the war.

Perhaps, if Earth had had a similar relationship with its Rangers . . . Billy shook the useless thought away as he entered the communal living area, which was about twice the dimensions of the Angel Grove High gymnasium, but far less empty. It boasted a viewing screen, sparring mats, exercise machines, bookshelves filled with discs for mobile readers, a dartboard, a dining table, chairs, and couches

Centrally placed was a deep pool of water and Delphine, the White Aquitar Ranger and his wife's best friend, was at that moment standing on its surface, absorbing the pure elemental water energy which the Aquitar Rangers required to survive.

Over on the sparring mat Aurico, the Red Aquitar Ranger, was fighting energetically with Corcus, the Black Aquitar Ranger. Observing the match was T.J., the Red Turbo Ranger, and Billy guessed the bald African-American android was slated to face the winner.

Curled up on the couch in front of the viewing screen were Ashley and Carlos, watching some Aquitan drama. Since their reactivation Ashley had frequently been in the company of Carlos, a claim no other member of the team could make. It was as though she believed that by spending enough time with him she could somehow force him to remember himself and bring back the Carlos she had known. The logical impossibility of this proposition didn't seem to discourage her efforts in the slightest.

Recently Justin had succeeded in perfecting his psyche-copying machine for the Robot Rangers, but the breakthrough had come far too late for Carlos. Worse, thanks to the infiltration attack three months ago by the Matter Master, there were no longer any spare bodies available for a saved consciousness to be uploaded to. Billy had been sparing as much time as he could to spend constructing new bodies, though the work was slow going. The Robot Rangers were likely the most complex androids in the galaxy, especially given the innovations Billy had installed, and replicating their forms was neither quick nor simple.

Further complicating the effort was the difficulty of obtaining several of the rarer necessary parts in a galaxy riven by war. Thus none of the reserve bodies in his lab were more than three-fourths completed at most, though that could change if the chance arose to scavenge parts from a destroyed Robot Ranger. That doing so would make Billy feel like a ghoul would be secondary to the vital importance of restoring the Robot Ranger in question.

There was no sign of Tideus, the Yellow Aquitar Ranger, or Cassie, and Justin and Cestro were undoubtedly hard at work in the Command Chamber. They were working, while he had slept in. With a twinge of guilt Billy turned around and headed toward the Command Chamber. There was nothing he'd needed in the communal room except to see the Light Rangers, or most of them at any rate.

Justin and Cestro were indeed in their seats before the Command Chamber's central computer, Billy saw as he entered the room. He'd been driving them hard since Triforia fell and along with it their most powerful member. Maybe it was time they were allowed to relax too.

"Okay, guys, it's break time," Billy announced as they both swiveled in their chairs to face him. "Today's your day off."

Cestro inclined his head far to one side and questioning, "Why do we have today off?"

"Because I've had you working in here for weeks, researching historical records, studying new technological advances, and brainstorming with me on ways to defeat the Psycho Rangers. It's time you were free to have fun for at least a day."

"Billy, we know the need before us. We wish to help," Cestro announced.

"Yeah!" Justin agreed earnestly. "And researching with you IS fun! We're Blue Rangers; this is what we do! Oh, and last night after you went to bed I thought of a way we could install a pulse laser in Carlos' left arm! Here, let me show you the schematics," Justin offered, hitting a few keys to bring up a diagram on his screen.

"You're both sure?" he asked, only to receive two firm nods. "Okay, let's see what you've got," he said to Justin, stepping up to look at his screen.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The alert, when it came late that afternoon, was as jarring as ever. Practically leaping out of his seat Billy dashed to the viewing globe.

"This is Captain Herlin," an Eltarian said, "of the Morrigan task force. A dozen UAE vessel have attacked and have taken down the shield. They've just landed a force of Quantrons and the Psycho Rangers on the planet's surface!"

Morrigan was a major source of raw materials for GLL spacecraft construction. Unfortunately the mineral-rich world was located in a narrow area of League space jutting out into UAE territory. Prior to the fall of Triforia it had been considered only a matter of time before the planet would have to be abandoned. With the serious losses the UAE fleets had incurred in the attack on Trey's home, however, holding Morrigan had become a much more militarily viable option. At one of their weekly military meetings Admiral Telan had speculated that with the current state of the UAE's naval force, they would be unwilling to commit the number of ships needed to attack Morrigan.

Without enough ships to battle through the protective task force an attack on the planet was not possible, since naturally Morrigan was shielded. The dawn of this war had seen the installation of planetary shields on a widespread basis for the first time in galactic history. Given the tremendous energy requirements involved, not even a moon-sized forcefield could withstand much orbital bombardment, but then such was not the purpose of these shields. Instead they were meant to guard against enemy teleportation, completely blocking the beams. Thus being able to achieve sufficient navel superiority to bring down a planetary shield was an essential and unavoidable first step in any effort to take an enemy-held world.

"But the miners are safely aboard your ships, aren't they?" Billy asked urgently. That had been the contingency plan outlined by Admiral Telan, if Morrigan was assaulted and its shield breached.

"We rescued the dependents and off-duty miners, but we were unable to get a lock on anyone from the shift currently in the mines. Over three hundred people are still down in those tunnels! A small number of Marines volunteered to teleport down and defend the mine entrance, but against the Psycho Rangers . . ."

The officer's voice trailed off, but he didn't have to say the rest. He and Billy both knew the truth, and so had the Marines when they had made the choice to go down to the planet.

The rest of the Rangers came running into the chamber as Billy asked, "What about reinforcements from other planets?" This was also something he knew the answer to, but he had to ask.

"Per order of the League Council, Admiral Telan is unable to dispatch any additional ships or troops to a Class C or below world unless he can be certain that the attack is not a feint meant to lower our defenses for a strike against a more populated planet," Captain Herlin admitted.

Inwardly Billy cursed. The scourging of Triforia had resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths, and the escaping refugees had spread stories of the horrors they'd witnessed to every world of the League. So, too, had tales of suffering come from the peoples of the six worlds recently liberated from UAE control. The end result had been to terrify much of the populace of the GLL, and the Council had responded by confining the military to a more defensive role than seemed wise. Instead of making the most out of the impressive fleet superiority they now possessed, the GLL's ships were, for political reasons, largely confined to an overly cautious garrison duty.

"I'll inform the Rangers, Captain, and get back to you momentarily."

Billy deactivated the viewing globe, erasing the image of the surprised officer, and in a few terse sentences related the situation to his team, which was already morphed and ready. Then he added his own thoughts.

"This is a trap," he asserted with unusual bluntness.

"Did our agent tell you this?" Cestro asked curiously.

"He didn't have to. The Psycho Rangers themselves, attacking a world with almost no ground forces in place to resist them, at a location you can't teleport into or out of? It has to be a trap."

"And we will beat it like we always do," Tideus boasted, and Billy didn't have to see beneath the helmet to know there was a smirk on the Yellow Ranger's face.

"It isn't just us who'll be trapped," T.J. pointed out. "They will be too. This could be our chance to finally finish them!"

"You don't have Trey to aid you anymore," Billy reminded them, swallowing down the lump that rose in his throat at the words. He hesitated for a few seconds before finally saying, "You don't have to go."

These words seemed to startle the Rangers.

"Billy, we cannot abandon hundreds of people to death without at least trying to save them," Delphine said gently. "It is our task to defend the innocent."

The White Rangers' words touched his heart, but Billy's logical mind was still screaming that sending the Rangers to Morrigan would be a terrible mistake. There was no telling what the Psycho Rangers had planned, and facing whatever it was in a place where easy retreat was impossible was far too great a risk.

What other choice was there, though? Delphine was right; every one of the Light Rangers would rather take the risk of going in than stay back and allow hundreds to die in their place. That mindset and morality was why each of them had been chosen to be a Ranger in the first place. Even if he could somehow persuade them to stay here, there was no time for him to do so; the miners were in danger right now!

"Like when they sicced the Pyro-Hydra on us, this'll backfire on them," Aurico cracked and the tension broke as a collective groan arose from nearly the entire team at his horrible pun.

The Red Aquitian Ranger frequently reminded Billy of his favorite comic-book hero, Spider-Man. Like Peter Parker, Aurico had a definite fondness for lame humor and awful puns in battle. Also like the webspinner, he was very good at what he did, fighting with a skill and insight which belied his seemingly light-hearted manner. That was why Delpine had made him the field leader of the team before Billy had ever come to Aquitar. Even his fellow Red Ranger T.J. had come to accept deferring to Aurico in the heat of combat.

"Don't worry, Billy, we'll beat them," Justin reassured him, and as always it slightly threw Billy to see that his Robot Ranger friend was taller than he was while in a morphed state.

"I know you will," Billy responded, smiling with an effort. He switched the viewing globe back on and asked, "Captain, please give a set of coordinates near the mine entrance for the Rangers."

The Aquitan shield would drop automatically with a teleportation beam sent from this console and in less than a minute he had all the codes ready for the roundabout, hop-scotch pattern he intended to employ to get the Light Rangers to Morrigan.

"Teleporting now," Billy said, and his Rangers transformed into columns of differently colored light before shooting up into the heavens.

"And may the Power protect you," he whispered in a fervently heartfelt plea.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	3. Chapter 3

The instant the Rangers appeared they summoned their weapons, alert for any immediate threat, but none was apparent. Before the attack Morrigan had been inhabited only by a small colony of miners and their families. It was a rocky, barren world with no native life, little water, and a thin though breathable atmosphere. The planet's only real value lay in its mineral wealth, which greatly aided in the construction of new starships.

The Light Rangers had appeared a few feet from Morrigan's sole settlement, nestled in a small valley. There was no sign of life amongst the silent, pre-fabricated hab units, but extending outward from the edge of the town was a wide, flat path cut into the rock. Further in the distance along this road lay the scattered, ruined shells of Quantrons, several of which seemed to be still sparking!

Without a single word needing to be said the Rangers ran along the path. They stayed together as they advanced, although since the Turbo powers' greatest physical enhancement was to swiftness, the Robot Rangers could have easily outdistanced their fellows and made it to the mine entrance first. In a situation such as this one, in which every second lost could mean another innocent life lost, it was tempting to do exactly that, to get there as quickly as they possibly could.

Bitter experience, however, had taught all of them the importance of not getting separated. The ten of them working together had defeated the Psycho Rangers several times. The occasions when they'd been split up and then had to fight had not ended so well.

Leaping over the Quantrons lying across the path they quickly reached its end, a tunnel entrance leading into the innards of the imposing mountain which loomed above the valley.

Now the Quantron wreckage was mixed with fallen Eltarians, Aquitans and Triforians. None stirred, though Delphine and Ashley in particular searched for even the faintest signs of life. It was a vain effort; the Pyscho Rangers seldom left survivors among the soldiers they faced, and this occasion had been no different.

The mine was lined with bright lights set into each wall at fifteen foot intervals, while the surface of the floor was smooth as an undisturbed pool. They continued to move quickly, but more cautiously now. If Billy was right, and he had seldom been wrong, the Psycho Rangers had lured them here as part of a trap. As Billy had said in the past, however, forewarned was forearmed and they had no intention of being taken by surprise.

The tunnel burrowed two hundred yards into the mountain, the corpses of GLL fighting men and women strewn grotesquely along its length. At the end of the tunnel an open pit led down into darkness, the metal grooves set in the sides showing that this was an elevator shaft down to a lower level. Right before the shaft lay a Marine captain, a laser pistol still clenched tightly in his right hand.

His head was missing.

Built into the left wall at about waist height was a control panel, presumably for the elevator. It had clearly been blasted, but lying right beneath it-

"Wow!" Justin breathed, stepping forward to stare at the control panel and the cut open Quantron prone in front of it.

"Careful, Justin!" T.J. snapped.

"Don't worry, I think I know what happened," the android exclaimed excitedly. "See, one of the defenders shot the controls to keep the Psycho Rangers and Quantrons from using the elevator. So they took this Quantron and they sliced away his entire front section," he indicated the exposed inner workings of the bot's head, chest, and torso-"and then they used parts from him to cross-wire the controls, substitute for the damaged circuits, and call up the elevator!"

"We haven't seen any sign of the miners," Aurico observed. "The actual mineworks must be further down."

"Then we could still be in time!" Ashley speculated hopefully.

"Justin, can you summon the elevator?" Delphine asked.

"Yes!" the Blue Turbo Ranger replied definitively. Reaching into the damaged panel he took the exposed end of a short length of wire spliced onto a longer one, and touched it to the other exposed wire visible. In less than five minutes the elevator ascended into view. It was a vast open box with a lighted ceiling and a floor, but no sides. It was large enough to accommodate dozens of people at once, so the Light Rangers had no problem fitting onto it.

"Is there something else we have to do?" Tideus asked curiously as they all stood waiting. Then without warning the platform abruptly began descending into the stygian depths below.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The instant he saw the Rangers disappear into the mouth of the mine on the viewing globe Billy activated the comm and called his wife, as much for the comfort of hearing her voice as for relying the request he knew he had to make.

"Cestria, can you, Healer Verok and the other apprentices on-base make your way to the infirmary in our section?" he asked.

He heard his wife ask Verok, and the assent. "Yes, we can," she confirmed. "Do we need us to teleport there? Which of the Aquitan Rangers is injured, and how badly?"

"None of them so far," Billy admitted, "but I'm afraid they all will be, and I need you there and ready to treat them when they arrive."

He wasn't being pessimistic or betraying a lack of faith in his Rangers. In fact, given the situation, all of the Rangers returning injured or damaged was probably the best case scenario.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When the platform came to a halt the Rangers stepped out into a tunnel much like the one they had just left, with similar lighting. This tunnel, however, branched off in three separate directions, with no indication of which way to go.

Cursing the fact that they hadn't gotten a map of the complex, Aurico turned to T.J. and the other Robot Rangers.

"Can you hear anything?" he asked.

Focusing purely on his auditory sense T.J. nodded. "There are voices down that way," he said, indicating the tunnel on the left. "They sound like Psycho Rangers".

"Then that is the way we must go," Aurico declared.

Only a short way down the tunnel it opened up into a large, irregularly-shaped cavern, most similar to an elongated oval. Here the signs of mining were clear in the rough, rounded walls and the various gaps and trenches in the ceilings from which ore deposits had been extracted. The only thing smooth was the surface of the floor. Six larger hemisphere lamps were embedded equidistantly around the area, providing sufficient illumination to see the five Psycho Rangers.

They were standing in front of one of the four egresses from this chamber, the passage directly opposite the one whereby the Rangers had entered.

"It's about time!" Red Psycho snarled, his electronic voice echoing in the confined space. "Too bad you cowards weren't here soon enough to save all of the marines we slaughtered."

"Cowards? You're the ones who've barely poked your heads above ground in the last two and a half months. In fact, you still haven't!" Tideus taunted.

Even as the Yellow Aquitan Ranger spoke the Light Rangers were slowly moving forward, splitting up into pairs, Corcus and Carlos drifting far to the right, Ashley and Tideus were next, T.J. and Auricon came solidly down the center line, Delpine and Cassie took the left and Justin and Cestro went out on the far left.

"Meeting you underground seemed appropriate, since we're going to bury you here," Blue Psycho chimed in. "Look around, Rangers. This is going to be your catacomb."

"You're the ones in a grave situation right now," Aurico riposted. "Your masters won't be able to pull you away this time, and you don't seem to have any Quantrons left to back you up."

"The remaining Quantrons are further in, hunting the miners," Red Psycho Ranger spat. "We didn't need their help to deal with you. We have everyone we need right here."

"It sure doesn't look like it," T.J. commented.

Even through the electronic masking, there was a smile in the Red Ranger's tone as he replied, "Look again."

From a circular hole in the ceiling near the left wall, one only a few feet in diameter, a dark form dropped down, his legs barely needing to bend to absorb the impact of his landing.

At first Justin and Cestro's hearts leapt as they beheld the staff-bearing figure, thinking that the reports had been wrong, that Trey had somehow survived and escaped the conquest of Triforia. It took only seconds for them to see that this wasn't the Gold Ranger armor they remembered, but the more stylized and ornate armor of a Psycho Ranger.

Then there was no more time to think at all, because the Gold Psycho Ranger used the short-range, semi-solid teleportation ability which had been Trey's most distinctive power. A black blur smashed its way down the entire Ranger line.

For the Aquitan Rangers, the experience was like being struck head-on by a Delorsal whale; for the Robot Rangers it was more akin to being hit by a Mack truck. Either way, though, all of the Light Rangers were down by the time the gold and black figure rematerialized near Corcus, and the Psycho Rangers were charging forward, howling with bloodlust.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The Black Aquitan Ranger had barely regained his feet when crushing blow to the top of his helmet laid him down again. From the ground he saw Carlos shoot his attacker with the Turbo Thunder Cannon, the point-blank blast sending the Gold Ranger doppelganger reeling back although it did no visible damage. Carlos fired again, but the shot went wild when Green Psycho's horned battle lance smashed into his throat.

Shifting his laser pistol into a dagger, Corcus rose to one knee, only to be sent flying down yet again by a kick directly on the visor of his helmet. An enormous pressure manifested above his windpipe as the Gold Psycho Ranger used the butt of his staff to pin Corcus down by the base of his throat.

He slashed at his attacker's leg with his sword, the hit merely skipping off the Psycho Ranger's armor. He shifted his dagger back to a pistol, and the Gold Ranger used the end of his staff to bat the weapon from his hand before slamming it back to its original position.

A flare of blinding golden brilliance erupted from the end of the staff, not in a sudden flash, but in a steadily brightening glow. Dropping his sword Corcus grabbed the staff to try to shift it even as he became conscious of a terrible feeling of heat.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Energy balls from Psycho Yellow's Sling struck both Ashley and Tideus as they stood, the impact knocking them back on the ground. Ashley rolled as soon as Psycho Yellow's shadow fell over her and the boot meant to stomp her chest instead cracked the cavern floor.

The Yellow Aquitan Ranger fired his pistol point blank while slashing at her with his sword. Psycho Yellow's attention immediately shifted to him and energy bolts leapt from her hands, sending Tideus smoking and rolling along the cavern floor.

Behind Psycho Yellow Ashley got to her knees and applied both of her Star Charger's at maximum to her opponent's back. The Psycho Ranger jerked and dropped as the electrocution briefly incapacitated her, Ashley rising as Psycho Yellow fell. Then a watery scream erupted from behind Ashley, cutting off almost immediately. Since she had never heard a Psycho Ranger scream before, Ashely instinctively whirled around to see which of her teammates was in trouble and how she could help.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The razor-sharp edge of the Pscyho Sword was cutting into T.J. and Aurico's breastplates before they could even stand up. T.J.'s initial parry was met with incredible force, the Red Psycho Ranger steadily pushing T.J.'s blade back down toward him.

Aurico rose up and intervened, bringing his own sword down across Red Psycho's wrists and forcing the evil Ranger to disengage his weapon from his two enemies'. With sword and dagger Aurico struck at the leader of the Psycho Rangers, giving T.J. time to collect himself and join the fight.

Keeping Aurico's blades high, Red Psycho unleashed a powerful side kick to the Aquitan's torso. When Aurico doubled over the Red Psycho Ranger brought his sword down in a swing which gouged a thin slit in the Aquitan's helmet.

Now T.J.'s Lighting sword was thrusting into Red Psycho's side, however, putting the evil Ranger off-balance and buying Aurico time to recover, the two Light Rangers working together like the well-oiled machine one of them actually was.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

An explosion of pain swept through Delphine as a blue energy arrow struck her squarely over the heart.

Cassie counter-attacked with her Turbo Wind Fire Bow, shooting from one knee. Then the Pink Psycho Ranger disappeared, using one of her favorite tricks: invisibility. Cassie wished they were outside in the loose dirt instead of fighting on this rocky floor; there was nothing to betray where-

Cassie stumbled back from the impact of the energy arrow, loosing her own arrow in response, but hitting nothing.

Then Delphine was sliding across the floor, wildly waving her sword and dagger to each side of her as she did so. Cassie saw the dagger blade seem to strike solid air, and put an arrow into Psycho Pink, returning her to visibility.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When he saw the blade of the double-headed axe falling down toward him Justin could only brace for the blow, but it didn't hit him.

Instead the Psycho Axe sheared through the barrel of first his right Turbo Blaster, then his left, destroying both weapons before the prone Blue Turbo Ranger could even pull the triggers.

Hurling the useless pieces he held up at his attacker, Justin summoned his Turbo Blade. Though more than willing to oppose any of the Psycho Rangers, he held a special grudge against the Blue one. It was only the Blue Psycho Ranger who insisted on calling him a second-rate robot replacement, an inferior copy of the original, virtually every time they met. So he wasn't the first Justin; he had all of Justin's thoughts and memories, right up until shortly past Justin's thirteenth birthday. He often wished that they could somehow make it to Earth and find Justin; he was sure that together the two of them could take down this Blue abomination with no problem.

Twisting his waist the Blue Psycho Ranger brought his axe down across the approaching Cestro's chest, immediately went back to attack Justin, but the latter had rolled away and regained his feet. With their foe whipsawed between them both Light Rangers lunged forward as the Blue Pscyho Ranger shouted "Psycho Spin!"

Justin and Cestro were each struck multiple times by the whirling Psycho Axe, flung to the ground with their armor charred and smoking.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

In horror-stricken disbelief Ashely saw the Gold Psycho Ranger's staff, glowing at one end, burn its way through the Black Aquitan Ranger's armor, and then his neck.

Quiet Corcus' telepathic death-scream struck the remaining Aquitan Rangers even harder than the Gold Psycho Ranger had. There was no mistaking the agony, the despair, as their friend perished.

Even as Ashley was struggling to process what she had just seen the Gold Psycho Ranger came up behind Carlos, who was locked in battle with Pscyho Green, and laid his staff across Carlos' neck, pulling back on it with all of his undoubtedly incredible strength.

Though he had no need to breath, Carlos's head was still wrenched backwards and Pscyho Green was able to slam the horned tip of his lance into Carlos' chest again and again, striking the same spot each time.

Ashley stepped forward to help when an energy burst to her back sent her down to her knees. She could hear Tideus shout as he attacked the Yellow Psycho Ranger, but most of her attention was focused on the Green Psycho Ranger driving his lance into Carlos' chest, ripping the head first to the left, then to the right, shredding Carlos' delicate internal circuitry.

Two of her teammates, her _family_, were gone, and two Psycho Rangers who had killed them were now free to kill the rest. The eight of them remaining could not hope to stand against six Psycho Rangers, and they couldn't teleport out either. All of this went through Ashley's processor in an instant and only one course of action presented itself to her.

Her helmet disappeared in a flash of yellow and Ashley screamed. Her sonic scream blew all three of those before her off their feet, their armor straining to withstand a force powerful enough to cut through solid steel.

Along with the tightly-focused sonic attack waves, Ashley's sonic scream machinery also emitted an enormous level of non-destructive noise outward in every direction. Billy had constructed the implant so that it would send a signal an instant before it was employed, shutting off the other Light Rangers' auditory sense, making their helmets go soundproof.

Blue Psycho had constructed a similar defense for the Psycho Rangers, designed to shut off their ability to hear sound at a certain decibel level. Unfortunately, this would only take effect a second after hearing the noise, while the Light Rangers would be shielded a second before the noise. Thus, in this defined space, with the noise echoing off every wall, the Psycho Rangers were partially deafened and disoriented before their protection kicked in.

Furthermore even the special toughened glass the light hemispheres were constructed out of was not able to withstand this kind of stress. They began shattering, and as they were breaking Ashley turned her head upward, her sonic scream blasting into the rock ceiling and spreading ominous cracks outward from its point of impact toward the other holes in the roof.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

All of the Rangers had a thermal vision option, but here it did surprisingly little good. The Rangers' armor was designed to mask their heat signatures, and of course the chunks of the ceiling which were beginning to fall emitted no heat to make them visible, though their presence was certainly felt. Nor could the Rangers rely on sound to navigate in the darkness, not with Ashley's sonic scream cutting everyone off completely from that sense.

The Light Rangers did hold several advantages over their opposition here, however. The Aquitan telepathy allowed Aurico's frantic mental shout of "Withdraw! Withdraw!" to be communicated to all of the surviving Aquitan Rangers at once, and it was soon passed on to the Robot Rangers via radio. Furthermore, the mouth of the tunnel they had come through was still lit, giving them a clear point to head towards in the midst of the enveloping darkness. Finally, they had not been assaulted by a sudden blast of sound, nor did they have the Red Psycho Ranger distracting them through his radio-conveyed scream of "The machine bitch'll bury us all! KILL HER!"

For all of these reasons, the remaining Light Rangers save Ashley were able to break away from their battles and make for their exit without the Psycho Rangers stopping them.

In fact the Psycho Rangers were concentrating on the single thermal signature which shone brightly in the cavern: Ashley's exposed head. This extended use of her sonic scream was taking a great deal of energy, some of which was being given off as heat. For that reason the Gold Psycho Ranger was able to approach and use his staff to smash her head from her shoulders. Thrusting his staff down into the exposed neck cavity, he then unleashed an eruption of power so great it literally blew the decapitated Robot Ranger apart.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Aurico and T.J. were the first through the tunnel mouth, not because they wanted to be, but because they were closest and both knew the Light Rangers could not afford to be caught up in a bottleneck at the entrance.

Tideus was next, with Cassie and Delphine right on his heels. Justin and Cestro were last, leaving the cavern only seconds before Ashley met her end. They were sprinting toward the elevator when Cestro's psychic cry froze the Aquitan Rangers. They and the Robot Rangers looked back to see Cestro facedown, the Blue Psycho Ranger plunging his axe into the Aquitan.

Justin charged back, putting all of his vastly enhanced strength into a punch which sent the Blue Psycho Ranger skidding down the corridor on his back.

The tunnel was shaking now from the impact of the falling ceiling pieces, two of which had already struck Psycho Rangers within the cavern. Scooping up Cestro in his arms Justin saw the Gold Psycho Ranger emerge into the light and without hesitation he turned and ran.

He couldn't outrun the Gold Psycho Ranger, though, not with the latter's means of movement. Psycho Gold inexplicably wasted a few seconds kneeling at the fallen Blue Psycho Ranger's side; then he was flashing down the corridor, the blur smashing into Justin from behind.

The instant the Gold Ranger completely rematerialized, however, a waiting T.J. shot him with the full force of the android's built-in plasma blasters. Not even this Psycho Ranger could shrug off a hit of that magnitude. He went down himself, the exterior of his armor blackened beyond its normal shade.

As Justin got up and dashed past him with Cestro, T.J. prepared to hit the Gold Psycho Ranger again, but over his radio comm Aurico shouted "Move, now!"

T.J. ran as well, even as the Red Psycho Ranger joined the risen Blue Psycho Ranger.

A dark, sticky fluid was staining Justin's white gloves as he made the elevator platform. A first he though he had sprung a leak, but then he realized the substance wasn't any kind of internal lubricant; it was Aquitan blood, pouring out of the wound on Cestro's back.

"Cestro," he whispered, his world shrinking to just the two of them.

"Thanks-thanks for coming back for me," Cestro stammered through their comm link.

"Just hold on!" Justin urged, shifting his hands to cover the wound. "Hold on!"

The platform began to ascend then, and unable to reach the button with Cestro in his arms, Justin came close to panicking.

At that instant T.J. and Aurico burst out of the tunnel entrance, sprinting toward the rising platform. In almost perfect unison the two leapt and slid aboard on their chests, and just before the elevator controls on the wall were out of sight Delphine blasted them with her pistol.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

He'd been staring intently at the entrance to the mines since he'd called Cestria, hoping, praying, that at any moment the Rangers would lead a jubilant throng of miners out of that hole in the ground, the war effectively won through the deaths of the Psycho Rangers.

Every minute that didn't happen Billy's fear worsened, his brilliant mind struggling to come up with a single course of actions which could possibly save a GLL which had lost its Rangers.

There! There they were! All . . . seven?

Even as Delphine's frantic call of "Code Red! Code Red!" was coming over the speakers Billy was teleporting them straight to the infirmary.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	4. Chapter 4

The appearance of the remaining Light Rangers sent the infirmary into instant chaos, with Justin holding out the badly bleeding Cestro beseechingly as everyone spoke at once.

"Quiet!" Healer Verok insisted, both verbally and psychically. "Put Cestro on the nearest table. Any other Aquitan who is seriously injured, lie down on another table. Everyone else, out!"

Even as Justin gently set Cestro down, Cestria and the other apprentices were doing as they'd been trained, mentally projecting soothing calm to the consciousness of the badly wounded hero.

Delphine and the ambulatory Rangers exited the infirmary just in time to meet the figure racing down the hall toward them.

Billy skidded to a stop, his eyes taking in the Rangers, all of those who were there.

"What happened to the others?" he asked urgently.

No one answered him. No one wanted to be the one to say it.

"What happened, damn it?" Billy shouted, in an agony of dread and frustration.

"Corcus, Ashley, and Carlos were slain," Delphine confessed, her head bowed. "Cestro was gravely wounded."

"How?" Billy gasped. "What did they have waiting for you, what did they do?"

"They had a Gold Psycho Ranger," T.J. told their mentor, his voice rough and harsh. "We couldn't-we couldn't fight him and the other Psycho Rangers."

A _Gold_ Psycho Ranger? Someone with Trey's powers, augmented to the Psycho level? It was worse than even he had feared.

How had this slipped past them? How had they been taken by surprise? If there was suddenly a Gold Psycho Ranger on the Dark Fortress that was sure as hell something their source should have reported!

He'd look into that later. Right now he had to concentrate on finding out if there was anything he could possibly do to somehow mitigate this disaster.

"What happened? Tell me," Billy ordered. The Rangers before him were clearly devastated and he didn't want to force them to relive the nightmare they'd just been through, but he had to have the information, and he had to have it now.

In turns they related briefly what had transpired, Billy listening intently in silence until Tideus mentioned how Delphine had blasted the lower level lift controls as they were going up.

"She hit them? You're sure?" Billy questioned.

"Yes, I saw them spark when the laser bolt impacted," Tideus confirmed.

"But they can probably jury-rig it the same way they did the upper level control," Justin put in.

Without bothering to reply Billy whirled and ran for the Command Chamber. As soon as he reached the viewing globe he used it to contact Admiral Telan. As the Eltarian's face appeared within the globe, Billy told him, "Admiral, we have a Supernova level situation on Morrigan."

To the Admiral's credit, he was able to speak after only a few seconds. In GLL military parlance, a "Supernova" level situation meant one which could potentially determine the outcome of the war.

"What is happening there?"

"The Light Rangers fought a new Psycho Ranger along with the others, a _Gold_ Pyscho Ranger," Billy emphasized. "Three of the Light Rangers were killed and a fourth wounded, but they managed to temporarily trap the Psychos in the mines. Admiral, you have to send enough ships to Morrigan to retake the space around the planet and then you need to orbitally bombard that mountain until it's nothing but a field of magma."

"The Psychos can't communicate or teleport from where they are now," Billy explained, speaking faster now, pushing his case. "This is our chance to finish them once and for all, to catch them in their own trap! They've just crippled our only real defense against them. If we don't seize this opportunity . . ."

"I agree, but I'll need to get emergency authorization from the Council before I can send any ships from our major worlds," Admire Telan reminded Billy gravely.

"When you speak to them tell the Council that three of the Light Rangers are already dead, and if they want to ensure the rest won't soon follow, they need to let you act now!" Billy ground out furiously.

Admiral Telan's image winked out and Billy turned to see six Light Rangers standing in the doorway, their helmets off, silently watching and listening.

"I-I'm sorry," he apologized. "I had to speak with Admiral Telan. He needs to act now, before the chance slips away."

"Billy, there might still be miners alive down there," Delphine pointed out.

"For how much longer?" Billy burst out. "If the Quantrons don't get them, the Psycho Rangers will. If I was in their place I'd want a quick death instead!"

Billy longed to pull what he'd said back as soon as he'd said it. Reminding the Rangers of the innocents whose lives were forfeit because of their failure was the last thing he should be doing right now. It was like pouring salt into an open wound, especially when the Light Rangers had lost three of their own trying to save the miners. He could see the flinch from his harsh words among Aquitan and android alike. Aurico put a hand to Delphine's shoulder as the White Ranger bowed her head and turned to go. The others followed, save Justin who walked toward Billy.

"You're really going to let all those miners die?" he asked bluntly.

"Justin, we can't save them," Billy insisted in a softer voice. "If we strike now, though, we can make sure the Psycho Rangers will never hurt anyone else again. We can make Corcus' sacrifice mean something!"

He didn't mention Ashley and Carlos, since they could essentially be brought back as soon as their replacement forms were finished. For the Aquitan, however, no such resurrection was possible. His loss was permanent.

"He died trying to save other people. That already means something," Justin concluded before turning and also leaving the room.

Billy almost went after his young friend, but he didn't. Instead he set the viewing globe to the space around Morrigan and waited. Each second seemed to drag by as he stared at the nine functioning UAE vessels still orbiting the mining world. He waited, hoped and prayed for the GLL forces to arrive, to slag first the enemy ships and then the whole planet itself if necessary.

Five minutes passed . . . ten . . . fifteen . . . there! On the viewing globe the images of dozens of GLL vessels appeared, led by the _Spirit of Zordon_, Admiral Telan's Dreadnaught flagship.

Immediately eight of the UAE ships shifted into a defensive configuration while the ninth rapidly retreated from the plane, heading toward deep space. The ninth ship was _The Envenomed Blade_, the usual transport of the Psycho Rangers.

Against the vastly superior numbers and firepower facing them the remaining UAE ships had no real chance. One after another they were destroyed, while several of the GLL vessels ignored the space battle in order to train their weapons on the planet below. The first salvo had just slammed into the mountain when six teleport beams leapt up from the planet's surface, merging with _The Envenomed Blade. _An instant later the ship was gone.

"No! NO!" Billy screamed, slamming his clenched fists down on frame which held the viewing globe. They were too late.

The two remaining United Alliance of Evil ships came about in an attempt to flee, but neither even completed its turn before being torn apart by the fire from the vengeful GLL fleet.

The UAE had lost eleven ships in the assault on Morrigan, an especially grievous blow to their already weakened naval forces. Yet the Galactic League of Light had lost far more in this battle. In addition to the three defending ships the UAE had blown up, they'd lost all of the Marines who'd volunteered to go down to the planet's surface, probably all of the miners on duty, and worst of all, they'd lost three Light Rangers, three champions of the GLL, with one more critically wounded. The overall tide of the war had shifted, and the sole saving graces were the survival of most of the Light Rangers and the Galactic League of Light's considerable naval superiority. The latter would protect many worlds, but on those planets which the Psycho Rangers would be able to attack there was no longer enough of the former left to counter them.

Especially not with the addition of a Gold Psycho Ranger to the other side.

The door to the chamber slid open and Billy looked up, expecting to see his wife, or Justin. Instead Healer Verok entered the room, her expression grave.

"We did everything we could, but there was too much damage," she explained.

For a moment he simply stared at her, before the meaning of her words struck home.

Cestro was gone too.

"I should tell the others," Billy announced, starting forward, but Verok held up a hand.

"Apprentice Cestria has already gone to inform the White Ranger. As you know she served as an Aquitan Ranger once, and she wanted to be the one to break the news to her former team leader herself."

That was his wife. He hadn't even thought about how she must be taking this, first losing Corcus and then being unable to save Cestro. Yet she had still chosen to go herself to tell Delphine, to offer what support and comfort she could to her best friend even while her own heart was breaking.

At her side was where he belonged now. At the moment there was nothing left for him to do here.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

With the exceptions of the Gold and Green Psycho Rangers, the entire team was in an exceptionally foul mood when they rematerialized aboard _The Envenomed Blade_. Yes, they'd won the battle, but that had never been in doubt. Their goal had been to annihilate their enemies, and there they had fallen far short.

"If you had taken out that Yellow droid in time we could have had them!" the Red Psycho Ranger snarled at his own Yellow comrade, punctuating his statement by seizing her shoulders and flinging her into the nearest bulkhead. Given weight of the rocks from the ceiling which had struck her she was in no condition to continue fighting, so she chose to strike back verbally rather than physically.

"If our Green and Gold Rangers hadn't taken so long to deal with their two opponents I could have taken her out!" Tanya spat back, her Psycho Sling appearing in the right hand, almost concealed at her side.

"You two couldn't have killed either of your targets faster?" Tommy demanded aggressively of Adam and Fred. "Especially you!" he accused their newest member. "I guess you overestimated your own power," he goaded, leading Fred to step forward, but from behind Justin put a hand to his shoulder.

Had he still possessed his original neural net, the teenage genius reflected bitterly, he would probably already be locked in combat with Tommy himself instead of working to hold his friend back. What was supposed to be their final battle with the Light Rangers had instead turned into an infuriating succession of missed opportunities.

First the Ashley droid's unexpected action had nearly buried them all alive and had given the remaining Light Rangers a chance to escape. Then his own robotic clone had knocked him away before he could finish the Blue Aquitan Ranger. Even after the Light Rangers had fled, however, he and Fred could have killed Tommy at the elevator stop if Adam hadn't arrived at that moment. Why couldn't part of the ceiling have fallen on him, as it did on Kat and Tanya?

Finally he'd had to be the voice of reason, strongly suggesting that they vacate the complex rather than finding and slaying whatever miners the Quantrons hadn't overcome yet.

That Tommy had yielded on that point was a mixed blessing. With the Light Rangers not yet dispatched Justin couldn't afford to lose any more than one of his teammates, but the image of Tommy buried and incinerated by the orbital barrage he'd been sure was coming had been sweet indeed.

As it was they had barely managed to repair the elevator controls and make it out in time. If they'd stayed just a few minutes longer . . .

"Princess Astronema is requesting your report, Red Psycho Ranger," a Quantron voice crackled over the ship's internal comm. Tommy whirled and headed for the bridge, and the other Psycho Rangers began to drift away from the wardroom.

Justin withdrew to his own personal chamber, Fred following in his wake. "I'm trying not to challenge him, like you said, but he's making it pretty hard," the Gold Psycho Ranger confided. "I killed two of those Rangers, helped kill another, and he's going after _me_?!" Fred demanded indignantly.

"I told you he'd be jealous of your power," Justin put in. "We could have butchered him down there at the elevator if Adam hadn't been so quick to follow."

"Well, let's hope another chance comes along soon, because if he really does attack me I'm not taking a dive."

Of course not. Fred was passionate, committed, going all in at whatever he did. Deliberately losing was contrary not only to his Psycho pride, but to his very nature!

Justin couldn't realistically ask that of him; he'd been lucky enough that Fred hadn't torn his arm off yesterday, when he'd prevented a fight between him and Tommy.

After _The Envenomed Blade _docked at the Dark Fortress the Psycho Rangers split up. Once he'd made sure the proper fabric had been produced for Fred's cabin on the ship Justin headed to his own room. He'd had the foresight to bring his concubines with him on the Quantron troop transport and a little attention from them would surely help his mood.

For that matter Tommy was undoubtedly spending time with his sole concubine right now. That was usually what he did after a disappointment, and as far as Justin knew she hadn't tried again to kill him for months now. A pity, really, but given the punishment he'd meted out in response to her past attempts he could hardly blame her for giving up.

"Blue Psycho Ranger, report to the strategy room," Astronema's voice ordered over his helmet comm.

What? What now? Had Tommy tried to blame this on him somehow? With a grinding of his teeth Justin reversed course, entering the main room only to find it empty. Oddly, the door remained open behind him for at least two seconds after it should have closed; a fault in the circuitry, most likely, and something for a Quantron to fix, but if he had time later Justin might attend to it himself. Fixing the elevator controls had actually been fun and correcting the door mechanism would be a similarly simple and enjoyable electronic task.

As he looked around, waiting for Astronema to arrive, he spotted through the large viewing window the head of the UAE, the Grand Monarch of Evil, Dark Specter himself!

Since his draining of Zordon's energy you could almost feel the sheer power radiating from the ruler's rocky, thirty foot tall humanoid form, like the emissions of a white dwarf star. As always his appearance strongly reminded Justin of Maligore, but he had never dared ask if the two had been related; there was absolutely no sense in stirring up that possible hornet's nest, given what he and the other Psycho Rangers had done to Divatox's intended fiancée while they'd still been fighting on the wrong side.

The tall, muscular seventeen year-old immediately fell to one knee and bowed his head before his supreme sovereign.

"Rise," Dark Specter instructed and doing so the Blue Psycho Ranger stood at attention.

"More than half of the Light Rangers survive," Dark Specter noted. "I am disappointed."

A chill ran down Justin's spine. "We slew three of them, and next time we will get them all!" he promised.

"Perhaps, but for now you have a different task to complete," Dark Specter informed him, sparking his servant's curiosity.

"The United Alliance's fleet is insufficient to press the assault, but this problem can be remedied sooner than the fools who oppose me dream. Behold!"

A pulse of red energy came from Dark Specter's right claw, separating into several pieces and forming an image in the space before the window of what appeared to be a six planet solar system. He indicated the fourth planet in the system.

"This is Horath, capital of the empire of Prince Gasket. Since fleeing Earth five years ago Gasket has concentrated on building up his fleet of Gear Ships and Quadra Fighters, to protect himself from any strike by his father. His navy added to our own would give us a quarter more ships than our enemies possess!"

Justin was familiar with Prince Gasket only by reputation. His efforts to minimize and internalize the Psycho Ranger neural net had led him to work closely for a time with the robotic scientists of the Machine Empire. There he had learned that King Mondo's first-constructed son had not been Prince Sprocket, but a Prince Gasket.

Then-Crown Prince Gasket had been disowned hundreds of years ago, when in a Romeo and Juliet-style twist, he had fallen in love with Archerina, the robot daughter of King Mondo's mortal enemy King Aradon. The two had fled from their parents and established their own small, but substantial empire. Aside from an attempted return when King Mondo had been believed destroyed during the time of the Zeo Rangers, the duo had remained apart from the UAE, a neutral party in the current war.

"And King Mondo has agreed to this?" Justin asked hopefully.

"No. You must arrange a reconciliation between father and son, and persuade Gasket to commit his forces to the UAE."

W-what?! How the hell was he supposed to accomplish that?! The two had been estranged for nearly half a millenia! Even after the Machine Empire had ground King Aradon to scrap metal, King Mondo had refused to accept his traitorous son's marriage.

Couldn't Dark Specter simply order King Mondo to welcome his son back? Yet with the loss of Divatox the United Alliance of Evil had also lost a large portion of its ships and soldiers. In fact the Machine Empire comprised the bulk of their remaining forces. Dark Specter, probably the single most powerful being in the galaxy, could indeed command, but if the stubborn mechanical monarch defied him and Dark Specter was forced to destroy him then the consequences for the United Alliance of Evil would be catastrophic.

By the same token, the UAE could not threaten Prince Gasket into compliance, not with the number of ships he currently possessed.

So he was being given the impossible task of playing peacemaker and recruiter both!

"My lord, how?" he asked in genuine bewilderment.

"You will find a way," Dark Specter assured him. "Are you not among the most intelligent of humans? You were able to infiltrate and destroy the Ranger-led Earth resistance and at the same time identify a suitable candidate for the Gold Psycho Ranger powers. I have faith in you, my Blue Psycho Ranger. Why else would I let you continue to keep your altered neural net?"

The threat in the final question was unmistakable and beneath his helmet Justin's eyes widened in fear. He had to find a way to do this, or Dark Specter would force him to return to his old neural net. He would once more be a raging psychopath, little better than a wild animal.

"Yes, my lord," Justin bowed again, grateful that his helmet concealed his hate-filled expression. He heard the door behind him open and Dark Specter resumed speaking.

"Darkonda has spent the last month and a half scouting Prince Gasket's empire. He will accompany and assist you in your mission."

Wonderful, Justin thought sourly, turning to glare through his visor at the smirking, monstrous mercenary. There no love lost between a Psycho Ranger and any other being; the Psycho Rangers' neural nets ensured they were no longer capable of love. There was not even any liking lost between the Justin and Darkonda, though.

Yes, Darkonda had been responsible for bringing him here in the first place, but he had done so by contemptuously subduing Justin in battle, sneering at the fourteen year-old as he battered the latter into unconsciousness.

They had worked well together as a team to capture the other future Psycho Rangers, but it had been an alliance of necessity, not one of choice. Over the past two years Justin's dislike of the scheming, sinister creature had only increased, and now he had to work with _Darkonda_ on this insane assignment?

"But my lord, am I not needed here to face the Light Rangers?" he asked in a final desperate attempt to evade this duty.

"Three of the Light Rangers are gone. The other Psychos will deal with them if they show their faces. I doubt that will occur before you return. Work quickly, my Ranger; we must strike soon."

"My ship awaits," Darkonda offered in a snide voice.

Bowing one final time, Justin followed Darkonda out into the hall and towards the hangar bay. As when he had entered, the door held itself open for a couple of seconds too long, but there was certainly no time to correct that malfunction now. He had an impossible mission to complete, on pain of literally losing his mind.

He had thought it would be enough to replace Tommy and seize leadership of the Psycho Rangers. Now he knew he'd been wrong. He could not let anyone continue to hold power over him; he would not allow his fate to rest in the hands of another. He didn't just need to get rid of Tommy; he needed to dispose of Princess Astronema too, and even-even Dark Specter himself!

Justin Stewart, Grand Monarch of Evil! That was his true goal now, and he would not stop until he had achieved it.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Dark Specter did indeed have confidence in his Blue Psycho Ranger, especially with the incentive he'd given his servant to succeed. Once Prince Gasket's forces were aligned with him they would be able to crush the Galactic League of Light in a matter of months!

Then he could turn his attention to the true threat.

His suspicions had first been kindled shortly after the capture of Divatox and the mass desertion which had followed it. His additional requests for ships and troops had been met with an explanation of the need to fight a simmering rebellion, to crush it before it gained widespread support.

Given the iron fist with which this associate member of the UAE ruled, however, such an excuse rang hollow indeed.

It could be that he simply wanted to avoid incurring any losses in this conflict. Such would be in keeping with his thoughtful, intelligent nature, but Dark Specter suspected a far more dangerous motive. This suspicion had only grown in the wake of two requests for his daughter to visit him, both of which Dark Specter had denied. No, he would not be surrendering _that_ little point of leverage! If Master Vile wanted this galaxy, he would have to sacrifice his daughter's life to take it.

The problem was that the ancient, extremely powerful sorcerer might well be willing to make that sacrifice. He had already ruled the M-51 galaxy for four thousand years and counting; he had been denied further expansion of his rule for a very long time, and his military was undeniably greater than that of the entire UAE.

True, Dark Specter was more personally powerful thanks to his siphoning of Zordon's essence, but the gap between them was still worryingly small, smaller than it was between Dark Specter and any other known entity in existence.

Perhaps the best course of action would be to secretly send the Psycho Rangers to assassinate Master Vile. With the addition of the Gold Psycho Ranger they might actually be able to slay the galactic ruler, though he doubted any of them would survive the effort. With Master Vile dead rule of the M-51 galaxy would fall to Rito, and that fool was no threat. He might even be able to displace Rito with his sister, and Rita Repulsa would know better than to disobey him in anything.

Yes, the Grand Monarch of Evil mused as the forcefield around the Dark Fortress dropped and Darkonda's small ship sped out of the hangar bay. He would have to seriously consider this.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Billy had never attended an Aquitan funeral before. Though the words and form differed, the emotions were the same as at a human funeral, and there was a cathartic release when Corcus and Cestro's services finally concluded.

Given his choice he would have left his Rangers alone in their grief, but there was no choice. The remaining six Rangers could never hope to stand against the six Psycho Rangers. So there was really only one option left, one he'd hoped he would never have to consider.

After the funerals he called them all to the Power Chamber.

"I know that even now, you're not going to give up," he told them, looking from face to face. "Even after everything you've lost, you'll fight to your last to protect the people of the Galactic League of Light."

He was rewarded with nods, solemn looks of agreement. No one contradicted him.

"As you are, however, you can't stop the Psycho Rangers. They're too powerful, especially with the new addition to their ranks."

He went on, trying to ignore the looks of anger, of shame.

"Before this war even began I came up with a number of possibilities. Hail Mary plays, longshots to use if the time came when they were the only chances we had left."

He stopped, took a deep breath, and continued.

"There is only one of them which could realistically help us now. I call it the Omega option. Beyond the Hyperion constellation is a planet where you could gain the power to stand up to the Psycho Rangers."

Now the anger and shame was fading, replaced by dawning looks of hope.

"If you're willing to go, there's already a ship prepared to take you there."

"Why would we take a ship? Why wouldn't we just teleport?" Justin asked.

"Because teleportation beams can be detected and tracked. If you decide to go for this, the UAE must NOT know about it until it's too late for them to stop you."

"Hold on, if this power is so great, then why haven't you sent us after it before?" Tideus wanted to know.

"Because, with one exception, every group of Rangers who has ever tried to obtain this power has died in the attempt. I couldn't put you at that kind of risk, not unless there was no other hope left."

"And you think we can make it?" T.J. questioned.

"I don't know," Billy confessed brokenly, "but I don't see any other option."

Delphine looked around at the remainder of her team. "Who wishes to undertake a quest for this power?" she asked. One by one the Rangers gave their assent and once all had spoken their leader turned back to Billy.

"It is decided. Where must we go?"

"To a little planet called Phaedos."

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	5. Chapter 5

As they walked toward the primary hanger Justin opened up a private comm channel with Fred. He also switched on the muffling ability of his helmet, ensuring that this conversation would not be overheard by Darkonda.

"Fred? Are you there?" he asked.

"Justin! What's up?" his friend's voice questioned.

"Dark Specter is sending me out to mend the family rift in the Royal House of Gadgetry and win the allegiance of Prince Gasket and his followers," the brown-haired teen related in a bleak tone, the enormity of the task before him still sinking in. "Gasket rules a neutral empire, and with his ships added to our force we can resume the offensive and finally finish this war."

A low whistle greeted his announcement. "That's a big job! What's the plan?"

"There isn't one," the Blue Psycho Ranger admitted bitterly.

"You don't have a plan?!"

"I wasn't given one; our supreme leader just told me to do it."

Four heartbeats of silence ensued, during which Darkonda and the Blue Psycho Ranger entered the hangar bay, Darkonda motioning to his small, sleek vessel. At his approach a ramp lowered in the rear of the ship.

"I could go with you," Fred's voice offered. "I bet together we could come up with something."

"No, he already said you and the other Psycho Rangers have to stay here, in case the Light Rangers try something," Justin told him regretfully as he boarded the ship. He'd far rather be traveling and working with Fred, given the choice, but he hadn't been given a choice, had he? That was why he couldn't continue to allow others to hold authority over him, not for any longer than he had to.

"He teamed me up with Darkonda, and I'm in his ship now," Justin explained sourly as the vessel lifted off and soared out the open bay door. "We'll be out of radio range soon, but I wanted to let you to know where I was, and to warn you not to let Tommy provoke you! I'm not sure how long this will take, but when I get back we'll deal with Tommy. Don't try anything alone!"

The seventeen year-old's main source of apprehension was his own mission, but fear for Fred occupied the secondary place. He couldn't do anything to protect Fred while he was gone; he could only counsel the Gold Psycho Ranger to be patient. If a confrontation erupted in his absence, even if Fred won, there was no way to know for sure what Dark Specter's reaction would be. Perhaps he would promote Fred to the new leader of the team. Or perhaps he would remove the Gold Psycho Ranger powers and then kill Fred.

The prospect sent an unfamiliar pang through the teenager. He couldn't afford to lose his most powerful ally, but more than that, he didn't _want_ Fred to die! He wanted the other adolescent to be safe and happy. It was the strongest positive feeling he'd felt for another being since receiving his modified neural net, even stronger than the affection which had led him to spare his father.

"I'll try," Fred promised.

"Do or do not," Justin automatically shot back. "There is no try."

"Yes, Yoda," Fred solemnly answered.

Both boys cracked up and were still laughing when the distance grew too great for any further conversation.

Justin settled into the co-pilot's chair beside Darkonda, feeling lighter than he had since being given this terrible mission. Neither of his fears had been fully assuaged, but his and Fred's final words were a good way to part from his only friend.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The six surviving Light Rangers were ready for departure. Bags had been packed, supplies had been gathered, Aquitan parents had been bid farewell, and now the six of them stood almost at attention before Billy, in the hangar containing the civilian merchant ship which would be used to take them to Phaedos. Their only remaining task was to say good-bye to their mentor.

"Thank you all," Billy told the six, each of whom was morphed, with their helmets tucked under their right arms. "For what you've done already the entire Galactic League owes you a debt of gratitude it can never repay. No one could have blamed you if you'd decided not to go for this, to instead wait and hope something else would come along, some other solution. But you didn't, because that's who you are. You're the ones who step up and try to make things right, the ones who willingly risk your own existence for the good of others. You're heroes, and it's been my privilege to know each and every one of you."

Billy stepped forward and to his right, stopping before Tideus.

"Try to keep how awesome you are in check," he joked. "It's bad for team unity to keep showing up your fellow Rangers."

Tideus grinned and two clasped hands.

Billy moved down to Cassie.

"Keep everyone's spirits up."

"That was Ashley's job," Cassie replied, a tremble in her voice.

"I know you can do it until she gets back. Sing for them; hearing you sing always raises my spirits."

Billy hugged her, a gesture she returned with her left arm, before stepping over to Delphine.

"You were the leader of the Aquitan Rangers when I first met you, and you still are. That's not just a coincidence or simple inertia; it's because you deserve to be the leader."

When Delpine dropped her eyes Billy put his right hand under her chin and gently tilted it up to face him.

"You do," he insisted in answer to her unspoken doubt, to the guilt and feelings of responsibility she carried with her for the sudden loss of four of her teammates. "Don't ever forget that."

After embracing his wife's best friend he moved to stand before Justin, Blue Robot Ranger, lab assistant, surrogate little brother and son.

"You've been a big help to me in the lab, Justin. You're half the reason the Robot Rangers' upgrades even exist. I hope once the war is won you'll still help me out?" he questioned through the lump in his throat.

"Course I will!" the apparent thirteen year-old replied indignantly, and Billy dropped to one knee to hug the android tight.

"Billy!" Justin hissed in embarrassment, his cheeks visibly reddening as his helmet tumbled out of his grasp and went clattering to the deck. "Not in front of everybody!"

Ignoring the squirming, knowing Justin could have easily thrown him off if the Ranger had truly wanted to, Billy rose and slid down to stand halfway between Aurico and T.J.

"Keep them safe. I know if anyone can do that, it's the two of you," Billy quietly told them.

T.J. nodded and promised, "We will," while Aurico simply held out his arms with a frown on his face.

"What, no hug for me?" he mourned pitifully.

Laughing Billy embraced Aurico before receiving a bone-crushing arm clasp from T.J. As he retreated Delphine unexpectedly took a step forward.

"We want to thank you as well, Billy, for all that you have done for us," she announced, continuing to speak right through the protests Billy attempted to voice. "You and Cestria helped to form the Galactic League of Light. You cut the Psycho Rangers' power in half when you arrived on Eltar, and then you rebuilt the Robot Rangers. You brought us together as one team and have done your best to guide us ever since. What hope the free peoples of this galaxy have has come as a result of your actions. Even this quest we are going on has begun because of your knowledge. No one could ever replace Zordon, it is true, but know that you have come as close as any life form could hope."

As one the Rangers donned their helmets, saluted Billy and turned to board the ship. Billy watched as it lifted into the upper airlock before passing into the ocean surrounding the city and shooting upward.

Then his wife was at his side, her left arm around his shoulders. As he turned to her the tears finally began to spill from his eyes.

"I-I don't know if I've sent them to their deaths," he confessed, the fear and doubt he'd been holding back in front of the Rangers' sake at last breaking free.

Cestria held her husband as they walked back toward their quarters, cursing the fates which had placed such a terribly crushing burden of responsibility upon his shoulders. He didn't deserve this! This was Zordon's role, not his. The two of them should have been able to live together in quiet happiness, their time with the Rangers nothing more than a treasured memory of the past. Instead her husband was striving with all of his might to "make up" for an exceedingly generous gift he'd given to his former teammates, and slowly consuming himself in the process.

As they entered their quarters Cestria wondered if perhaps now Billy might be able to rest, to catch up on the sleep he'd been missing for so long.

Then a gentle chime sounded, and an electronic voice intoned, "Billy, there is a message for you in the Power Chamber."

Turning in her arms Billy kissed her, a demonstration of his love for her. Then the door reopened and he was gone.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The journey to Horath was a long one, and taking it with Darkonda only served to make it seem that much longer.

At the moment he was filling Justin in on what he had learned from the time he'd spent scouting out Prince Gasket's realm, but he wouldn't be Darkonda if that was all he was saying.

"Once I was in the form of a Cog I was able to map the layout of his palace," the alien mercenary explained, alluding to his shape-shifting ability, an admittedly invaluable power for any spy. "It's larger than the Dark Fortress and more heavily garrisoned. The map is in the ship computer file marked Horath. You know how to access that; you did it numerous times when we were capturing your friends."

He paused, titling his head to one side. "It's a shame you removed the visible signs of the implants I inserted into you. Gasket would probably receive you much better if you looked like you were at least partially robotic."

Justin ground his teeth in frustration, refusing to respond to the other's taunting and baiting. Darkonda delighted in cruelty and psychological games, and while Justin had made the mistake of verbally engaging with the creature in the past, he had never yet managed to come out on top. Darkonda held too many points of psychological advantage over him. He had been the one to capture Justin. He had even been the one, he had boasted, who had installed the former Turbo Ranger's first neural net. And during their team-up he had been the one to take point in subduing the other former Rangers.

Involuntarily the seventeen year-old found his mind drifting back to the day he had first encountered this foul being . . .

That Friday afternoon there hadn't been a cloud in sight as he hurried home from school. The sky had been a pure, beautiful blue, just the way he liked it most.

Maybe he and Dad could go fishing again this Saturday. They had been spending more time together since the move, exactly as Justin had hoped when he'd made the difficult decision to remain with his father rather than go off into space with his friends.

Seeing those absent friends again last month, knowing that they were okay (well, they'd been okay after he and Storm Blaster had rescued them, anyway) had been such a wonderful relief!

Of course he hadn't seen or heard from them since. He'd kind of thought they might call on him to help them again, especially now that he had regained a Blue Turbo Morpher from Storm Blaster, but so far . . . nothing. He'd told them he'd always be there if they needed him. Didn't they believe him?

Maybe they were just trying to give him time with his Dad. That was why he'd left the team in the first place, after all. And it was great, no doubt about that.

But there was still plenty of time left to fill. Dad's job often kept him out late, school work here was no more of a challenge than it had been at Angel Grove High, and his difficulty in making friends was apparently still intact, his past befriending of Nico notwithstanding.

If anything, it seemed even harder now to make friends than it had been. Even though the kids in his class were years older than he was, the things they liked to do and were concerned with seemed awfully, well, _childish_.

When you'd been out there saving people, making a real difference, it was hard to go back to just being a kid.

At least he was still able to e-mail Tommy. That helped some.

No car in the driveway, the young genius noted. Dad must have had to work late again tonight. Checking a sigh Justin took out his house key and let himself in, resigned to spending the rest of the evening alone.

Except he wasn't alone.

The alien which emerged from the living room to confront him was a biped with two eyes, but there any real resemblance to humanity ended. He wore a shell of crab-like organic armor which covered his legs, torso, and most of his upper body, but parted in a multi-fanged V-shaped maw to leave exposed the pectoral area of his chest, his neck and his head. He wore gauntlets of the same curious substance, while his visible skin was a bright red. On the top of his head were two horns, crowning rows of descending, steadily smaller horns which ended just above his forehead. In his hand he held a sword and at waist-height two chains dangled from the armor. His eyes were a glowing, pupil-less yellow.

His time as a Ranger had taught Justin not to judge beings by outward appearances. Lerigot had been pretty ugly too, and look what a good guy he had turned out to be! There was something about this alien, though, that set alarm bells ringing in his head. Somehow he knew this was not an ally of his friends come to request his help, a presentiment only confirmed by the first words spoken.

"Yet another child to abduct! Maybe I should open a sideline business, "Darkonda, experienced kidnapper of kiddies"!'

"You won't be kidnapping me!" Justin spat out defiantly. Twisting his left wrist he summoned his Turbo Morpher. Then he dropped his house key, reached into his pocket, and brought out his _other_ Key.

"Shift into Turbo!" he cried. "Mountain Blaster-" he began, stopping in shock as his foe lashed out with the sword, opening up a deep cut on the bottom of his clenched fist, causing his hand to spasm open and drop the Key.

The pain he felt was insignificant compared to the pure shock which ripped through him. No one, in all the time he'd been a Ranger, had EVER done that before!

Knowing that to bend over and grab for the Key would only invite a blow to the back of the head, Justin dove to the alien's right, going into a somersault and smoothly regaining his feet in time to shoot a kick backward into his pursuing enemy.

His aim and execution was flawless, but the impact of his sneaker against that strange armor only made the alien burst into mocking laughter. In his non-morphed state he lacked the physical power to harm his attacker.

Oh, how he wished he still had the awesome super-strength he'd gained from that weird ant-bite!

He'd have to go for escape instead of battle. He raced through the hallway, toward the back door to the kitchen, only to have the alien appear directly in front of him!

He came to a halt just as the devil-like creature slammed a fist into his stomach. Doubling over in agony Justin gasped for breath, dearly missing now too the armor and toughness he enjoyed in his morphed state.

"The last child I kidnapped put up more of a fight-and she was a little girl!" the thing crowed triumphantly.

While he was cackling Justin shot his left hand toward what seemed to be his adversary's only weak points: his eyes.

His wrist was seized in an iron grip before his fingers could reach their target. The glow in those sickly yellow orbs brightened and two thin beams of light leapt forward, impacting the boy's chest and creating a concussive blast which knocked him sprawling.

"Enough fun," the thing sighed. He took one of the chains from his belt, casting it around Justin.

Then he electrified it.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Justin winced at the mere memory. When he'd next awoken it had been three days later, and he had felt-different. He'd been greeted by Astronema and once she'd explained the plan to him, he'd agreed to go with Darkonda to kidnap other former Rangers to be changed and made into Psycho Rangers. Their first target had been the only old Ranger whose location he knew for certain: Tommy.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

When Tommy Oliver let himself into his dorm room after his meeting with his geology class study group, he realized at once that he had a surprise visitor. A familiar mop of brown hair was visible on the small figure sitting at his desk chair in his bedroom.

"Justin?!" he asked in disbelief.

The chair spun around and Justin Stewart leapt up, tearstains on his face. "Tommy, you've gotta help me! I didn't know who else I could turn to!" Justin wailed.

Quickly dropping his notebook and Geology text on the kitchen table, the college student made great speed toward his friend.

"What happened, Justin? What's wrong?" he asked, his tone betraying his deep concern.

At that time Tommy Oliver was the most skilled, experienced former Ranger in the entire galaxy. He was a third degree black belt and past holder of more different powers than any of his predecessors. A victorious veteran of literally hundreds of battles against the monsters of Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, King Mondo, and Divatox the Pirate, he was a natural and consummate leader, arguably the cornerstone of every Ranger team which had been privileged enough to have him. He was not just a Power Ranger; he was _THE_ Power Ranger!

Yet when Justin viciously kicked him directly in the groin as he sprinted forward, he became nothing more than a man, curled up on his dorm room floor in terrible pain. He didn't feel Justin placing his left sneakered foot atop his dark-haired head in triumph, and he barely registered someone else wrenching his arms behind his back and securing them together somehow. The only thing which truly registered for him was the teleportation stream, and that was because it brought about a blissful absence of pain.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

It had been like that with all of the abductions, the Blue Psycho Ranger recalled with a scowl. In each case Darkonda had shifted into his form and had been the one who got to have all the fun of beating up on and subduing their targets, while his participation had been limited to restraining the battered young adults with one of the mercenary's chains afterwards. He had tried to argue otherwise, but Darkonda had smugly pointed out that even humans were likely to notice the multiple cybernetic implants protruding grotesquely from his skull and therefore become suspicious. Besides, he made a better Justin anyway, the alien had asserted infuriatingly.

"Not paying attention?" Darkonda's voice queried mockingly, rousing him from his rememberances. "Perhaps a flaw in that new neural net you designed is keeping you from focusing? I'd try to make the effort anyway if I were you. I don't think our illustrious Emperor would look kindly upon your failure here, would he?"

Grinding his teeth together once more, Justin reluctantly shifted his full attention back to his loathsome traveling companion.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The message turned out to be of vital and terrifying importance.

Dark Specter was trying to bring Prince Gasket's kingdom onto his side! Calling up all of the data they had on Gasket's realm, Billy swiftly confirmed his worst fears. With Gasket's armada under the UAE banner, the balance of naval power would be completely reversed. The GLL would be outgunned in space, outmanned on the ground, and out of ways to counter impact of the Psycho Rangers.

None of his simulations or contingency plans had ever taken into account the idea of the United Alliance of Evil and Prince Gasket allying, since the possibility had seemed so remote. King Mondo and his first-constructed son had been estranged for centuries! It was only after Mondo's apparent destruction that Gasket had sought to claim the Machine Empire's throne, a claim he had renounced the instant he'd learned of his father's return.

Even now it apparently wasn't a done deal. Dark Specter had sent Darkonda and the Blue Psycho Ranger to try to form the alliance. Billy's first thought was to try to dispatch ships to ambush their spacecraft en route, like Admiral Yamamoto's plane had been shot down during World War II. There the intelligence had come as a result of codebreaking, whereas here it was thanks to the efforts of their spy, but otherwise the situation was much the same.

Unfortunately a quick check of the star charts showed that the path to Horath, Gasket's throne world, lay entirely within UAE space. He knew without asking that Admiral Telan would never get approval for such a costly, risky sortie from the Galactic League council, especially since Dark Specter could simply send someone else.

A preemptive attack on Gasket's kingdom was also completely out of the question. Their fleet was in no way strong enough to both strike at Gasket and defend the GLL planets from the UAE. Furthermore, making such an attack would only make the alliance a certainty, since it would then be a matter of sheer survival for the currently neutral despot.

He couldn't even call the Rangers back to try to deal with the situation. They needed to obtain the Great Power if they were to have any chance against the Psycho Rangers and their newest member. He dare not delay their quest any further, not with the fate of the galaxy at stake.

There had to be something he could do, though! He couldn't just let this happen, couldn't run the risk that the Blue Psycho Ranger could somehow bring father and son back together. This emissary had to be intercepted, but how? The only one who could even hope to move safely in UAE space was . . . their . . . agent.

He couldn't take out a Psycho Ranger alone, but maybe, just maybe, he wouldn't have to. In fact . . . yes, of course!

Billy typed out a terse reply, explaining in brief his plan and ordering their agent to make all due speed to Aquitar if he was willing to go along with the admittedly extremely dangerous scheme. It was a great risk, pulling out their best intelligence asset, but Billy had the authority to do so and it was difficult to imagine a piece of intelligence more vital to act upon than this one.

He'd hoped to spend the next couple of days working on bringing Ashley's spare body to full operational status, but now there was a different project taking precedence, one which had to be built as quickly as possible. He was certainly going to miss the help of Justin and Cestro on this, but he would get it done regardless; he had to. An opportunity like this, a chance to kill two birds with one stone, was unlikely to appear again. They needed to seize it with both hands, before it slipped away as so much else had during this war.

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	6. Chapter 6

Completing the voyage to Phaedos would take four days. They were keeping to the route the merchant ship was set to follow until they neared the Hyperion Constellation. Then they would break off and make for the planet, hopefully doing so unnoticed by anyone.

T.J. understood the need for stealth, to take every precaution to avoid having their plan compromised, but mere hours into their trip the wait already felt interminable.

The frenzy of preparation and planning had concluded, and now there was nothing left to do. Nothing but wait . . . and think.

That was the problem, T.J. reflected, staring at the gray metal wall his bunk adjoined. When they were busy doing something they didn't have to remember the teammates they'd lost, the friends they would never see again. Nor did they have to consider what the terrible price of their failure on Morrigan might eventually be, or contemplate the fact that the coming trial had resulted in the deaths of all Ranger teams who had ever attempted it, with the exception of Billy's. It would have been better by far to be busy acting in the present and not have time to look to the past or the future.

"Hey, Justin!" T.J. called out to the bunk above him.

"Yeah?" the reply came back, the voice drained of its usual vitality and enthusiasm. T.J. winced to hear it. He'd considered more than once asking Billy to reprogram him with a way to control his emotions, to allow him to shut out the negative ones and only experience the positive ones, but he never had. The idea just seemed too artificial, too unnatural-and yes, he was well aware of the irony of an android thinking that! Nonetheless his mind and personality remained the image of what T.J. Johnson's had been when he sat down in the neural copier. That was the foundation of his self, and not something he could meddle with, not without losing his very identity.

At times like these, though, it seemed Carlos had gotten the better end of the deal.

Disconnecting the recharger wires from his wrist, he shut the panel, got out of his bunk, and stood to peer at the little android in the top bunk.

Justin was lying flat on his back, arms by his sides, staring up at the ceiling.

"You want to charge now?" he asked.

"No."

"What are you thinking about?"

Justin turned to him, his expression bleak and his eyes dry undoubtedly only because the Robot Rangers lacked the physical capacity to shed tears.

"I'm thinking about Cestro," he told the Red Ranger.

T.J. relflexively inhaled a breath he didn't need. Of course.

"Justin, you did everything you could for him."

"But I didn't save him!" the Blue Turbo Ranger protested, his voice fierce and angry. Unable to sit up do the low ceiling he rolled over to face T.J.

"You tried! That's all you can do. We can't save everyone."

"I know, I know we haven't been able to protect everyone, but he was a Ranger, he was one of us!" Justin protested, slamming a fist down onto the bunk and severely denting the metal underneath the foam mattress.

"He was my friend," Justin mumbled, as all the energy seemed to go out of him.

"He was mine too," T.J. confided, but he knew it had been different for Justin. When he and Cestro weren't in Billy's lab they'd often been sitting away in a corner, spouting out technobabble to each other that no one but Billy could comprehend. Thanks to his astonishing intellect, the original Justin had always found it difficult to make friends, and of course this one was no different. He and Cestro had simply clicked, and that had been a great thing for Justin.

He'd clicked with Billy too, but to T.J. that had always seemed more son/father than friendship.

"I wish he'd let us copy him! Why won't the Aquitan Rangers do that? We could keep them from ever dying if they'd let us!"

There were multiple reasons why the Aquitans refused to have their psyche copied and transferred into a robotic form; T.J. settled for reminding his teammate of the most important.

"Because it would be different for them than it was for us. Being alive without telepathy would be worse than being blind to an Aquitan. It would be torture."

Justin slumped back onto his back, his gaze returning to the ceiling.

"Do you want to recharge?" T.J. asked again.

Listlessly Justin held out his wrist, allowing T.J. to pop the panel and attach the wires.

T.J. searched for anything else he could say, any words of comfort he could offer, and found nothing. He settled back down onto his bunk and silence once more pervaded the cabin.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Once they reached the edge of Prince Gasket's solar system, Darkonda brought the ship to a halt. "How do we approach?" he asked slyly.

"Openly," Justin answered. Setting the communications to the frequency used by Prince Gasket's forces, he began transmitting.

"This is the Blue Pyscho Ranger. I come in peace as an ambassador, a personal emissary of Dark Specter, Emperor of Evil. I beg an audience with Prince Gasket, the undisputed ruler of this system, so that I might speak to him about a matter of great importance. I await your reply."

Shutting off the transmission, he confirmed through sensors that the outer picket ships had received his transmission. Several of them were moving toward their position now, backed up by a trio of Gear cruisers. If they opened hostilities this much firepower would annihilate Darkonda's vessel almost instantly.

The keen awareness of his own vulnerability was intolerable and Justin momentarily wished he had been allowed to come aboard the _Envenomed Blade_. Even that ship, however, wouldn't be able to stand up to the small fleet currently arraying itself against them. No, if Gasket wanted them to die, they would.

Their only hedges against that were the power of the UAE and the rationality of Gasket, both of which he actually had some degree of faith in. Even with their current naval problem, the United Alliance of Evil was still the most powerful force in the galaxy. The Prince had wisely done nothing to provoke the UAE in the years prior to this and, during the time of the Zeo Rangers, he had fled back to Horath once King Mondo returned rather than try to fight his father. Then, too, there was that incident he'd read about in the Ranger Archives, when Gasket had convinced an amnesiac Tommy that he was the ruler of the Machine Empire and Gasket was merely his advisor.

Taken together all of this seemed to indicate that Gasket wasn't a puffed-up, pride-filled despot or a rash ruler subject to an ungovernable lust for conquest. He was instead a level-headed realist, one not given to overestimating himself or underestimating his opponents. On the whole that made him extraordinarily dangerous, but in this specific situation those qualities would almost certainly keep him from destroying their ship.

That was Justin's hypothesis, anyway.

It was proven twenty-two minutes later, when central cruiser broadcast an acknowledgement and insistence that they would conduct the ambassador's ship to Horath, where Prince Gasket waited to receive him.

Sending his compliance, Justin leaned back in his seat. "Take us in," he directed Darkonda.

For once the alien complied without comment, their minnow of a vessel moving in concert with the triad of behemoths now positioned to their left, right, and straight ahead.

Perhaps Darkonda was simply relieved that they hadn't been vaporized. From what Justin had managed to piece together the mercenary had used up all of the additional lives Dark Specter had magically gifted him with as a reward for his service. He had only one life left now, just like almost every other being.

That was a fact which pleased the Blue Pyscho Ranger immensely.

Horath was largely a desert planet, with an uncomfortably high temperature. Justin took care to eat lunch and hydrate himself thoroughly as they descended through the atmosphere. There would be food and water for the lizardlike native slaves in the city, but it would be better by far not to have to rely on his host's hospitality for his bodily needs. Of course, depending on how long he would have to remain here, such reliance might well prove unavoidable.

Grimacing at the thought, Justin put his helmet back on and eyed the city as they swept over it. The metropolis gleamed in the sunlight, even more brightly than the many robots passing along the avenues and bridges.

They flew toward the landing pad they'd been directed to, one in Prince Gasket's home. Before Darkonda's briefing Justin had expected a cube, or perhaps a pyramid; instead it was castle built entirely from metal, with a few modern touches, such as the landing pads, defense lasers, interior monorail system, and various and sundry other improvements.

He probably should have expected as much, given Mondo's title as King, his wife's as Queen, and their sons as Princes of the "Royal House of Gadgetry". For all of their impressive technology and galaxy-spanning power, the ruling family of the Machine Empire retained a curiously medieval fixation.

"We were directed to the landing pad closest to Prince Gasket's quarters," Darkonda informed him as they passed over the exterior wall. "I'm sure he'll be there to meet us personally."

"To meet _me_," the Blue Psycho Ranger corrected firmly, savoring the surprised expression on the monster's hideous face. "You'll stay aboard the ship while I assess the situation and decide how you can best contribute."

"Remember who you're speaking to, boy!" the alien hissed dangerously, engaging the auto-pilot and spinning his chair to face the Blue Psycho Ranger. "You don't give me orders!"

"Maybe not, but Dark Specter does. You were assigned to be my assistant, remember? I'm the one in charge of this mission and you'll do as I say. Unless you want to call Dark Specter and complain to him?" Justin offered, rising up from his chair and waving a white-gloved hand invitingly towards the communications console.

Darkonda glared at him with such force that Justin tensed for battle, expecting the well-remembered energy bolts to once more blaze forth from the alien's eyes.

"Of course," Darkonda sneered, relaxing back into his pilot's chair. "It is your mission. You are in charge and you will make all the decisions. You will be the one to reap the rewards of success-or accept the punishment for failure," he finished gloatingly, completely quashing the growing satisfaction Justin had been feeling from having finally gotten the better of this monstrosity.

The Blue Psycho Ranger was saved from the necessity of futilely trying to come up with a worthy retort by the soft clank of metal on metal as the ship settled down onto the landing pad.

Without a word he turned and headed back toward the rear hatch, hitting the button on the wall which lowered the cargo ramp. His tinted visor helped shield him from the bright light after being in the twilight interior of Darkonda's vessel for so long, just as his Ranger uniform protected him from the heat. He was thus able to concentrate on and appreciate the spectacle Prince Gasket had apparently arranged for him.

A hundred foot long walkway connected this landing pad, located near the very top of the castle, to a tower jutting up from the building proper. Strung along the wide walkway was a double row of Cogs standing at attention. The two next to the castle door each rose what looked like one of the primitive one-piece horns from Earth's distant past, but clearly they were not; such instruments could not produce the pitch-perfect trumpeting sound which issued forth from them, especially when the "musicians" had no breath to blow into the instruments.

From the door stepped another Cog, appearing different from the others, his limbs and trunk more slender while his head was almost a third larger.

"Prince Gasket, ruler of Horath and all planets in this solar system, bids welcome to the Blue Pyscho Ranger, ambassador of the United Alliance of Evil!" he announced at what would have for humans been a shout.

Justin started forward, only to snap into his stance as every Cog in the double row moved at once. Their right arms snapped up, their flat right hands in position just above their eyes.

They were saluting him, Justin realized, feeling more than a little foolish for his instinctive reaction. He hadn't even met Prince Gasket yet and already he was off-balance and embarrassed. At least the Prince hadn't been here to see his error.

Only when he neared the tower door did Justin realize how wrong he was. Stranding just beyond the speaking robot, inside the open doorway, was a figure whose faceplate was vaguely reminiscent of a Japanese samurai or daimyo mask, his eye plates glowing yellow.

This was Prince Gasket, and the Blue Psycho Ranger had no doubt whatsoever that the ruler's optical viewers were able to see much farther than the hundred feet which had been separating them.

The thin robot dropped down to one knee, exposing the upper half of his sovereign. "Welcome indeed!" Prince Gasket stated. "I am honored by your visit."

"The honor is mine, Prince Gasket," Justin replied, formally bowing at the waist.

As Justin straightened he saw Mondo's first built son studying him intently. He had to very curious about why the UAE was suddenly reaching out to him, perhaps even worried, but of course being a mechanical being he gave no outward sign of either. Nor did he betray his interest with a question. Instead he said simply, "Let us retire to more comfortable surroundings" and headed off down the hall, motioning for Justin to follow him.

That he felt comfortable enough to turn his back on the Psycho Ranger, with no apparent guards present as the two of them descended the tower's circular stairway, was worrying. It could be only empty bravado, but it could also be a sign of genuine, well-placed confidence.

From the base of the stairway a short hall led to an automatic door, opening onto a red-carpeted, pillared throne room, with a gilded throne standing at a dais on the far side of the room. Before the dais was a small plain round table, with two chairs. Gasket took the far chair and motioned for Justin to take the remaining one.

So he was sitting them down as equals, rather than making Justin speak standing while he sat on the throne. Interesting.

"I can have food and drink brought for you," Gasket graciously offered.

"Thank you, my lord, but I have no need of them at present. The matter which has brought me here is of vital importance and I should speak of it immediately."

The Prince graciously inclined his head, saying nothing.

"Though much of the galaxy remains ignorant of that fact, you are doubtless aware that yesterday I and my fellow Psycho Rangers slew three of the Light Rangers and wounded another on the planet Morrigan. The Galactic League of Light," Justin spat out with contempt, "no longer has sufficient defenders to stand against the Psycho Rangers."

"Then why are you here instead of ravaging their planets?" Gasket asked in a tone of polite interest, but Justin knew when he was being played with.

"Though our ground forces are now irresistible, the GLL maintains a temporary naval superiority. The UAE wishes to press its advantage while our foe is still reeling, and in order to do so I have come to the only place in the galaxy which has an armada sufficient to reverse the tide. I have come to you, Prince Gasket."

"And what does my father have to say of this?" Gasket asked, leaning forward.

"He has not yet been informed, my prince. It was Dark Specter's hope that by coming here and speaking with you I might find a way to help build a bridge over the rift between you and your father."

The pointed invocation of the Grand Monarch of Evil did not have the cowing effect Justin had hoped. Electronic laughter issued forth from the Prince.

"There is no bridge to be built!" he insisted. "My father will never accept my wife. It was because of my marriage to her that I was exiled from the Royal House of Gadgetry and stripped of the title of crown prince! I lost my position, my inheritance, my parents . . . and it was all worth it," he concluded firmly.

I am sure the Lady Archerina is a companion beyond all value," Justin began, only to be interrupted.

"She is indeed," Prince Gasket confirmed. "Look upon her," he invited, gesturing back over the Blue Pscyho Ranger's shoulder.

Twisting in his chair he saw a slender, femininely-built robot only a few yards away. In her hands was a high tech-appearing bow and as he turned to face her she loosed an arrow of light aimed directly at his chest.

There wasn't time to dodge and somehow the light went right through his armor as though it wasn't there! Surprisingly there was no pain, only a strange sensation of warmth. He suddenly found himself wholeheartedly agreeing with Prince Gasket about Archernia. A being so beautiful, so perfect . . . who wouldn't give up everything to be with her? To please her?

"My wife is eager to hear details of the wider galaxy, ambassador. We entertain so seldom here. Why don't you tell her all about the UAE's plan for when my father threatens to secede if I am allowed into the Alliance's ranks? What is your real motive in coming here?"

The dark visor unexpectedly turned back to Price Gasket, and this time the Blue Psycho Ranger was the one to laugh.

"Good try, my Prince! Your wife's love arrow would have ensnared any other emissary, but we Psycho Rangers have our own kind of programming in the form of an implanted neural net. It institutes several changes to our minds, one of which is that we cannot feel the emotion of love. Her arrow's effects were cut off almost as soon as they began," he finished coldly, rising to stand before the shocked monarch.

Bolting up himself Prince Gasket whipped his sword from its scabbard.

"Even if you could destroy us, you would never leave Horath alive!" he snarled. "Go now, while you still may!"

"Go?" Justin questioned in mock puzzlement. "I'm not going anywhere, my Prince. You and your wife have just made clear to me how we're going to facilitate your entry into the United Alliance of Evil and thus bring about the conquest of the galaxy.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

There was no point in trying to watch the ship leave. Instead Billy left the hangar bay, shuffling more than walking down the corridor.

It had taken three feverish days of virtually non-stop work, but he'd completed it, tested it, and then sent "Cestro" off with its new user. Though he'd told that name to no one else, he thought it an appropriate tribute, and a fitting one, to his fallen friend.

That he wasn't worrying about the future at the moment was likely due to the almost complete physical, mental and emotional exhaustion he was feeling. Only hours earlier he'd had to defend to the GLL military his decision to pull their most valuable intelligence resource out of the field for what Admiral Melooren had characterized as a "overly optimistic, criminally irresponsible gamble".

Didn't the Aquitan see that gambles were the only hope they had left? That if they didn't take chances now the free part of the galaxy was inexorably doomed? The war had turned against them, and there was no easy, safe way to reverse that tide. If the Rangers continued to act conservatively, as the fleet had been doing, then they would all be killed, and the Galactic League of Light itself would be conquered and destroyed. Most of the military leaders, however, couldn't seem to bring themselves to accept that fact, instead railing against his decisions. Even with Admiral Telan's guarded support, Billy felt like he'd gone three rounds against Lord Zedd in his prime by the time the meeting finally concluded.

Now, the last of his obligations discharged, Billy slowly made his way to his quarters, to his bedroom, and there he collapsed onto the bed, asleep only seconds after his head hit the pillow.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The staff smashed the Quantron's head cleanly from its shoulders before its tip drove like a spear into the chest of the last Quantron. Stepping back from his stance, Fred glanced down at the wreckage all around him which had once been a squad of twelve Quantrons.

They hadn't been much of a challenge at all, but he still felt better for having been able to vent some of his energy in battle. His set of chosen concubines was due to arrive tomorrow, which would be a welcome relief and distraction. In the four days since Justin had left Fred Kelman had been bored out of his mind!

In the resistance base there had always been tasks which needed doing, people to hang out with and spar with. He'd grown used to constant activity and companionship and so life on the Dark Fortress was really beginning to test his patience.

It'd be different if Justin were still here. Hanging out with him on Earth had been terrific, and if he hadn't been sent away they'd probably still be having a blast despite the lack of action. He hadn't heard from his friend since Justin had left, and he could only hope against hope that the latter's mission was going well.

"Ready to fight a real opponent?" a voice challenged and the Gold Psycho Ranger looked up to see Tommy standing at the door, in full morph naturally, with the other Psycho Rangers save Justin now leaning against the wall.

"Or do you only spar with Quantrons?" he goaded.

Okay, Fred knew what this was. Tommy was intending to beat him up in front of the other Rangers, thus demonstrating his dominance before his team. The words of Justin's warning echoed in the seventeen year-old's mind, and he would heed them. He wouldn't kill Tommy . . . but he wasn't about to back down or throw the match either.

"Let's spar," Fred agreed and Tommy advanced to near the center of the room. As they stood facing each other Fred couldn't resist taking an opening which would likely never come again.

"When you left I was but the learner," he told Tommy solemnly, grinning widely under his helmet. "Now I am the master!"

Come on, the black armor he was wearing, the old apprentice facing his mentor on the space station of a galactic empire?! How on Earth could he be expected to let all that go without making the _Star Wars_ reference?

Sadly Tommy didn't seem to see the humor in his situation, rushing forward with a roar. For several minutes Fred was purely on the defensive, turning aside thrusts of Tommy's Psycho Sword and blocking chops with his staff.

Tommy was still an expert swordsman, Fred conceded ruefully as he ducked yet another swipe of the Psycho Sword. If not for his relentless aggression, the impatience he displayed in his eagerness to gut his former student, he would have landed a lot more than the three hits Fred had taken so far.

So it was time to change the game. Shifting into what he thought of as his "cannonball" form, Fred flashed away from Tommy before arcing back to slam into him and knock him into the wall. Smashing the Psycho Sword spinning away with a blow from his staff, he pressed the tip to Tommy's neck. Remembering how easily it had burned through the Aquitan's armor he was sorely tempted to do the same here, but instead he merely gloated, "I win."

"No, you don't," Tommy managed to rasp out, and that's when they hit him from behind. Fred figured out later that it must have been all three Psycho Rangers who got him simultaneously and once he was down they never let up, Tommy joining in almost immediately. His staff was wrenched away from him as what felt like electrified jackhammers pummeled seemingly every inch of his body. He couldn't teleport with the constant blows to his helmet; he could barely think!

When at last it ended Tommy lifted his own helmet up, revealing the horrific electronic components sticking out of his face.

Then he spat on the beaten Gold Psycho Ranger.

"Remember this!" the leader of the Psycho Rangers commanded. "You might have the Gold Psycho powers, but you're just the new kid on this team. Keep to your place from now on and we won't have to repeat this," he finished, replacing his helmet and striding from the room, followed by the other Psychos.

Left alone, Fred slowly pulled himself into a sitting position, drawing in one deep breath after another. Justin needed to get back soon. Otherwise he was going to rip Tommy limb from limb and fuck the consequences!

ΩΩΩΩΩ


	7. Chapter 7

In spite of the frustration of not being able to kill their opponent, it was at least a fairly content group of Psycho Rangers who left the training room, none more so than Tommy Oliver.

Those Gold Psycho Ranger powers should have been his, HIS! He deserved them, far more than his former martial arts student. He'd finally put the upstart in his place today, though, with the help of the three other Pyscho Rangers. Persuading them to aid him hadn't been hard; Psycho Rangers were always up for a fight, and his warning that their newest member might start throwing his weight around if something wasn't done had found eagerly receptive ears.

The Pink Psycho Ranger leaned into him as they walked, purring an invitation in a low voice, "Come back to my room so we can celebrate."

Tommy was tempted, picturing the shining golden hair, beautiful face and flawless body hidden by the Pink Psycho armor. Each time they'd been together it had been a passionate, primal joining as each of them strove for their own pleasure.

"Not now," he said curtly, and his teammate's seductive voice took on an ugly edge.

"You're going to her, aren't you?"

It wasn't so much a question as an accusation, one the Psycho Rangers' leader didn't bother answering as he went down the corridor leading to his room.

Fuming, Kat turned to find herself alone; the Green and Yellow Psycho Rangers had already gone to Adam's room.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The coolness of the metal wall stung his bare back as Tanya all but hurled him into it, kissing him as though she meant to literally consume him. Adam Park kissed back just as hard, his mind clouding over with arousal and passion.

Nonetheless he found a brief moment to reflect with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction on his current situation. After turning his Turbo power over to its new wielder, he had felt . . . empty. Adrift, purposeless, he had enrolled at AGU mainly because it was expected of him, attending the classes he was signed up for with no enthusiasm. The only moment of real excitement had come when he had helped his successor Carlos through the latter's crisis of confidence regarding accidentally striking a teammate. After that, though, everything had seemed even more pointless.

Darkonda and Justin kidnapping him had actually been a blessing in disguise. Now he had a mission again: to help the UAE subjugate the galaxy and slaughter all who opposed him. In the meantime he had the pleasure of Tanya and his concubines, none of which he genuinely cared for, but all of which he enjoyed. Life was good.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

She was lying on the bed when he entered her room. Her head whipped around to face him and he saw the despair in her eyes. Even sweeter, he saw helpless resignation.

He didn't love her. Psycho Rangers could not feel love; their neural nets prevented it. The near-obsessive possessiveness he did feel was probably as close as he could get, though, even if it was mixed with a bitter and enduring anger.

Justin and Adam thought it odd that he had chosen only one concubine; they both had over a dozen. His teammates simply didn't understand. One, this one, was all he'd needed, all he'd ever needed.

Early on, soon after he'd brought her to the Dark Fortress, she had screamed to him that they were not Beauty and the Beast. She'd been half-right. He was no mere beast, but she _was_ beautiful. He had always thought she was beautiful, from the first day he had laid eyes on her, and she remained lovely still. He had made sure of that. The scars, the broken bones, the internal injuries-all had been healed over the years by Rita's magic.

Before going to her Tommy shot a quick glance to the Quantron standing silently in the corner. The machine made no response to his unspoken inquiry.

Good. She hadn't tried to kill herself again. Maybe he'd finally broken her spirit, at last made her realize that there was no escape. Perhaps she had finally come to terms with the fact that she was his now, only his. There was no choice anymore, and there never would be again.

Of course he'd believed she had accepted that truth before, many times, and each time she had surprised him, each time she had bounced back and returned to her pointless resistance. Her spirit was enduring and her will strong, as he well knew.

Stripping off his clothes he approached the bed, frowning as she cringed away. She was so small, so compact, yet she was lithe and flexible. He deeply enjoyed those characteristics in her.

He ran his hand through her brown hair, ignoring her shudder. Leaning down, placing his lips next to her ear, he whispered to her the same words he always had every time before he had taken her, even when the two of them had been together back on Earth.

"You are my heart," Tommy murmured.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

The discussion, or rather argument, with Gasket and his wife had gone on long into the night. The Prince was by his programming cautious and careful, not at all lacking in courage, but also not given to taking any unnecessary risks. That was why he'd fled his father's wrath when his love for Archerina came to light. His current kingdom was small, but stable and well-fortified, with an impressively powerful navy and military. The course of action the Blue Psycho Ranger was proposing could lead to Gasket regaining his status as Crown Prince of the Royal House of Gadgetry . . . but the plan required him to put himself and his spouse in a position of great vulnerability, and if anything went wrong it could easily result in their permanent destruction. Hence the robotic ruler's natural reluctance.

None of this mattered to the Blue Psycho Ranger. Gasket and Archerina were going to go along with this, because it was what the UAE needed. More importantly, it was what HE needed!

The idea had come to him in a flash of inspiration, shortly after Archerina's love arrow had struck him. In reviewing the pair's past history he had come across reference to Louie Kaboom, the usurper who had briefly taken the throne of the Machine Empire. Before his destruction the mechanical monster had himself fallen prey to one of Archerina's love arrows. The arrows could affect robots as well as organic beings; the only reason the one she'd sent at him had failed was because his neural net was specially designed to prevent him from ever experiencing love.

King Mondo did not have such an add-on.

Not that they could make the mechanical monarch fall in love with Archerina; that would be far too obviously a trick and would lead only to disaster. If the bow could be slightly modified, however, to produce a familial love, then it could be used to restore Mondo's feelings for his eldest son.

The scheme was admittedly audacious in the extreme, calling for a direct attack on one of the leaders of the United Alliance of Evil, but it was the only avenue open which offered any possibility of success.

He was a genius super-warrior, not a family counselor! He could not hope to heal a half-century rift between two robots with words; Gasket's reaction to his initial offering had made that all too clear. His only hope lay in his area of specialization: technology.

Except the bow wasn't purely technological, Archerina had eventually disclosed. It was instead an amalgam of technology and magic.

Given its effectiveness on both organic and non-organic beings, he should have deduced as much for himself, but there were no other signs of magic use anywhere around Horath. That turned out to be because the bow had been a gift from Archerina's father, who had been a sorcerer himself. He'd also been annihilated centuries ago, and Archerina had no magical ability of her own.

Once again Justin was thankful that he did not possess the standard Pyscho Ranger neural net. If he had, he surely would have attacked both sovereign and spouse upon learning that information, though he was by no means certain he could survive a battle with both of them at once, even discounting the legion of soldiers the Prince had at his beck and call.

So he needed someone well versed in magic if he hoped to alter the bow's enchantment. Yet neither Lord Zedd nor Rita could be trusted with the news of this plan. That left only one possibility.

"Prince Gasket, I know of someone who can aid me in altering your wife's bow. I can help you regain everything you've lost: your parents, your position as heir, your rightful place as one of the rulers of the galaxy-but only if your wife and her bow come with me now, to the Dark Fortress."

"You expect me to allow my wife to accompany you alone? Do you take me for a fool?" sneered Prince Gasket.

"Then come with us! I'll prove to you what I say is true and Dark Specter himself will give you his personal assurance of the rewards you'll receive for this!"

Justin took a deep breath before going on into his final pitch.

"My Prince, I cannot force you to agree to my plan, but know that the fate of the galaxy itself hangs on your decision! We must strike now if we hope to defeat the Galactic League of Light, while the ranks of their Ranger protectors are diminished. If you refuse to even try this, then you will doom yourself, your wife, and this entire system! Right now you are left alone in your cocoon of neutrality as the war rages around you, far too costly a prize to be worth seizing for either side. But my Prince, while you might be able to last forever, given the proper replacement parts . . . this war will not!"

"If the League prevails, do you truly believe they will allow you continue with your enslavement of the native inhabitants of Horath? They'll come for you, to finish their purge of evil from the galaxy. And if the UAE triumphs without you, you won't be the glorious hero who came to our side in our hour of need; you'll be Mondo's traitorous son, and Dark Specter will be more than happy to obliterate you in vengeance for your unwillingness to side with us."

"You can take either victory with the United Alliance of Evil, or have the surety of eventual extermination. The choice is yours."

The Blue Psycho Ranger sat back in his chair, his body language not betraying his anxiety as he waited for the Prince to either save or condemn all of them.

Gasket did neither.

"Leave us," he commanded, motioning towards the throne room's double doors. "I will speak with my wife."

Rising and bowing, Justin left the room, only to find a squad of Cogs waiting for him in the anteroom. He called his Psycho Axe to his hand with a feeling of despair, but instead of attacking the Cogs merely filed around him to stand in front of the throne room door. Apparently Prince Gasket was unwilling to take the risk that the Blue Psycho Ranger might eavesdrop upon his conversation.

While he waited he paced the small chamber and strove unsuccessfully to think of a back-up plan if Gasket should refuse his offer. There wasn't one. Dark Specter would reduce him to the status of a beserker upon his return, and there was no place he could hope to go to evade the Grand Monarch of Evil's reach.

After what felt like a century but was in reality only an hour the squad of Cogs opened the old-fashioned double doors and filed to the sides of the room. The Blue Psycho Ranger walked back into the throne room, alert and ready. If the answer wasn't the one he wanted, he would destroy both Prince Gasket and his wife or die trying. Death was perhaps a better fate than being reduced back to the level of Tommy and the others.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Darkonda started at the unexpected opening of the ship's door, swiveling in his pilot's chair. He had assumed it would be at least a week before the brat admitted the impossibility of his task and returned to face Dark Specter's wrath. He was looking forward to the event, knowing that none of the blame for this mission's failure would fall upon him. It would be a pleasure to see the Blue Pyscho Ranger turned back into a warrior overwhelmed with anger and bloodlust. That was what the Psychos were meant to be, and Darkonda far preferred them that way; it meant one fewer variable in his plans to take over the Alliance.

So he was hardly upset that Justin had conceded so quickly. He smiled hungrily as the Psycho Ranger boarded the ship, a smile which faded when Prince Gasket and Archerina followed him.

"Signal Dark Specter that the United Alliance of Evil's newest leaders need to meet with him in secret and discuss the last pieces of the plan for them to join," Justin commanded, and though the helmet blocked any view of his face, Darkonda was sure that the human was wearing a smile not unlike the one he'd been flashing.

For once the alien mercenary found himself speechless.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

For Dark Specter it was a simple matter to teleport to the currently dark side of Triforia and meet them as they arrived. Justin explained his plan and Dark Specter examined the mystical aura of Archerina's bow. Extending a clawed hand larger than their tiny ship he shot a cord of red energy into the weapon, then instructed Justin on several technological modifications which would also need to be made. Since the facilities to do so did not exist aboard ship, Justin teleported to his lab on the Dark Fortress while Dark Specter spoke with the electronic monarch and his spouse.

When he had finished he prepared to teleport back, then hesitated. As long as he was here anyway . . .

"Fred! Miss me?" Justin asked through his helmet comm.

"Justin!" came the excited reply. "Where are you?"

"In my lab adjoining my quarters," he answered.

Eighteen seconds later the door to the corridor chimed, and Justin opened it to admit his ally.

"Finally! Now let's go and kill Tommy!" the Gold Psycho Ranger enthused as he stepped into the lab in full morph.

"What?"

"You're here again, so let's go butcher him!"

"Fred, what happened while I was gone?"

"He came to the training room and said he wanted to spar. I agreed, and I beat him! That's when the other Psychos hit me from behind. All of them together . . . "

The helmet's visor turned away and Justin knew his friend didn't want to admit to being defeated. 'Now you know how I feel every time we spar' the Blue Psycho Ranger thought to himself with a thrill of bitter enjoyment. Overall, though, this was pretty bad. It was a good thing the discipline Fred had developed as a rebel had kept him from taking action alone.

"When did this happen?"

"About fifteen minutes ago."

"Fred, we can't do this now," the seventeen year-old insisted, reaching out to place both hands on his friend's increasingly broad shoulders. "I'm on the verge of accomplishing my mission, but I need to go to Mondo's palace to complete it. After I pull this off and we finish the Rangers, Dark Specter might be willing to let us kill Tommy _openly_, with his blessing! Right now, though, it's the same as it was before: we can't let anyone know that we're the ones who killed him. I know you're angry and you should be, but as soon as I get back we'll start brainstorming ways we can get rid of him. Can you wait that long? Please?"

There was no way to read Fred's expression, but to his relief Justin felt the tension seep out of the Gold Psycho Ranger's shoulders.

"He's not living an instant longer than he has to, Justin," and the words were as much warning as promise. "I've let you get away with a couple of cheap shots because you're my friend-" "Get away with them"?! Was Fred somehow unaware of just how strong he was, of how hard he hit? How were taking blows like that in retaliation "getting away with" _anything_?!-"but not him. Nobody does that to me and lives. Nobody," he emphasized, and Justin caught the meaning. Fred didn't just want to kill Tommy; he was planning to kill all of the other Psycho Rangers who'd done this to him too.

Oh, well, once the Light Rangers were dead the UAE would no longer need a very experienced team of Psycho Rangers. In fact it would be better to bring in new ones, recruits with the same friendship/loyalty modification to their neural nets that Fred had been given. Once he was Grand Monarch of Evil he'd even let Fred pick the team, since the Gold Psycho Ranger would be the one leading them.

Too bad all of the people Fred would know well enough to recommend for the positions were already dead.

"I understand completely," Justin assured him. "I'll see you soon," he promised, and transformed into column of blue light as he teleported back to Darkonda's vessel.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

Their journey was nearly at an end, Tideus reflected as he watched the planet Phaedos grow larger in the viewscreen. Given the fate of almost all who had preceded them here, perhaps he should be worried or even frightened, but he was not. For one, it would be a tremendous relief just to be out there taking action! These days of waiting had weighed heavily on all aboard, leaving them with literally nothing to do except mourn their losses. A powerful atmosphere of gloom had settled over the remaining Light Rangers.

Still, Tideus didn't doubt that Billy's advice on masking their approach had been for the best. He'd told them about how Ivan Ooze had sent troops to stop them when the disgusting despot had learned that they were seeking the Great Power. The UAE wouldn't just send a squad, as Ooze had done; they'd send the Psycho Rangers, and they couldn't face those murdering bottom feeders again until they had received the Great Power.

There had been no hostile attention paid to them at any point, not even when they'd set course for Phaedos after the last stop. Presumably the UAE remained completely unaware of their plan.

Of course the planet alone had been sufficient to do in virtually everyone else who had come here. Fortunately they were the best Ranger team the galaxy had ever seen. They would gain the Great Power, and then they would pay the Psycho Rangers back in full for Cestro and Corcus' deaths.

"Attention! We're approaching Phaedos!" The Aquitan Ranger announced over the in-ship comm. In less than a minute all of his comrades had crowded in behind the pilot's seat, life showing in their faces for the first time . . . well, for the first time since Morrigan.

The planet was massive, at least three times the size of Earth and with far less water, a most disconcerting fact for him and the other Aquitans. Happily their destination apparently lay on the edge of Phaedos' sole sea.

"Take us down and skirt the coastline," Delphine instructed as she leaned over his shoulder. "Scan for any sign of the ruins Billy told us about."

"Which coast?"

"He said he journeyed north and the sea was on his left. Follow the eastern coast," Delphine directed.

They soared above a rocky coast, one frequently giving way to sheer cliffs. It was atop one such cliff that the ship detected a number of stone pillars.

"That must be it! Take us in."

"Aye aye, captain!" Tideus cockily acknowledged, carefully setting the ship down a sufficient distance from the ruins so as not to endanger the ancient architecture.

Without any command needing to be given, the Light Rangers all morphed. Delpine took the lead until Aurico's right hand fell upon her shoulder.

_Please, let me go first,_ he asked telepathically. _We don't know for sure what's out there._

Beneath his message she could feel his heavy guilt over their losses, his fear that he would once again fail to protect his teammates, his friends.

_It wasn't your fault, Aurico. You did the best you could. We all did, _she sent to him, accompanying it with a wave of support and reassurance, hiding her own grave sense of responsibility for the losses her team had suffered.

She stepped aside, letting Aurico take the lead, and the Rangers emerged onto the surface of Pahedos.

There was no sign of hostility. There was no sign of anything. All was quiet.

"Dulcea!" Aurico called out. "We have come to seek the Great Power! Billy sent us!"

His words echoed around them.

There was no response.

"Where is she?" Justin asked in frustration.

"I don't know," Delpine admitted. "Billy said she found him, and led his group here."

"Wherever she is, we will find her!" Aurico announced decisively. "Delphine, you and Cassie wait here in case she shows up. Contact us through the comms if you see her or anyone else. Tideus, you are with me. We will go south along the coast. Justin and T.J., head inland toward the southeast. Report in anything unusual."

Without question the six broke up into their specified groups, four of them setting out while the other two settled in to wait-and hope.

ΩΩΩΩΩ

To his surprise Justin found his mouth dry and his stomach heaving unpleasantly as Darkonda brought the ship in for a landing at the Royal Pad. It wasn't fear of a fight; Dad had started teaching him karate almost from when he could first walk, and he'd sparred countless times before doing a year's duty as a Ranger. He enjoyed fighting, he didn't fear it.

No, his fear was because they couldn't be sure this would work. If it didn't everything would come down around him. Unless . . .

"What are you waiting for?" Darkonda snarled.

Shaking himself from his reverie, the Blue Psycho Ranger created chains around both Gasket and Archerina's wrists, just as he'd done for Fred not too long ago.

Leading them down the ramp he followed a short corridor before passing into the palace throne room.

"Your majesty," he said, kneeling before the ruler of the Machine Empire, and yanking the chains to make his two "captives" kneel as well.

"You!" Mondo exclaimed, his visual receptors locked on his chained son.

"This is why I requested a private audience with you, your Majesty," Justin smoothly explained as he stood. "I know you and the Queen don't see eye-to-eye regarding Prince Gasket, and I thought you would wish to decide his fate and that of his wife alone."

"You will be rewarded for this!" Mondo promised fervently, staring now at the Blue Psycho Ranger. "No machine could have done better!"

That was when Archerina acted. Summoning her bow from its other dimensional storage space, she shot an arrow of light at King Mondo, breaking her chain in the process with no apparent effort.

The rotund monarch reacted with commendable speed, lifting his hand and bringing a transparent forcefield into being; Justin certainly hadn't known he could do _that_! Yet the arrow passed through it, striking him in the chest.

Gasket lurched to his feet, moving forward so that he stood directly in front of his father.

"Please, father, forgive me for following my heart! Please accept me again as your son and heir!" Gasket importuned, and there seemed to be real emotion in his voice.

The only biological being in the chamber realized he was holding his breath as he waited for King Mondo's reaction. With a thought he summoned his Psycho Axe, ready to strike if need be.

"Of course, my son! I am so glad to have you home!" King Mondo announced, deactivating the forcefield, descending from his throne to snap Prince Gasket's chains in two and then embracing his son.

Justin quietly slipped away down the corridor, leaving them to their reunion. It had worked! It had worked! Stopping for a moment, the Blue Psycho Ranger stood and gloried in his triumph! The Galactic League of Light was as good as finished! Soon the galaxy would belong to the UAE and before the year was out . . . the UAE would belong to Justin!

He continued down the corridor, relieved beyond measure that he hadn't needed to use the back-up plan he'd come up with on the spur of the moment. If the arrow hadn't worked, he had intended to strike down both Gasket and Archerina from behind, before they could do anything else. He would have apologized profusely to King Mondo for having brought unsecured prisoners before him, and then he would have gone back to the ship and had Darkonda assume Gasket's form.

Whether that appearance would have been enough to get Gasket's forces to obey the mercenary was a question which would happily never need to be answered now.

There was Darkonda, waiting outside the ship, a scowl on his hideous face.

"It worked," Justin gloated aloud as he approached. "We're going to have Prince Gasket's forces to add to our own. The UAE-"

That was when he broke off, because something had caught him from behind in a bear hug! A quick glance down showed nothing visible, yet he could feel the compressing force! Summoning up all the incredible strength his morphed state bestowed upon him, he broke free and whirled to confront . . . nothing!

A swift roundhouse punch at head height cut through the air, meeting no resistance. Then the unseen enemy seized him around the waist! He pressed down on what felt like a pair of armored shoulders. Was this Kat? But why would she be attacking him here?

"Darkonda, help me!" he called back over his shoulder.

The alien had taken a few steps forward, but he wasn't moving now. Under Justin's furious gaze the alien mercenary's arms dropped to his side. He did nothing but smirk and wink as he laughed.

Then Justin was being teleported, to somewhere very close by given how brief the trip was. Rematerializing so unexpectedly soon he needed to take a second to get his bearings-and that was a second too long.

The invisible thing holding him released his waist and a massive shove sent him tumbling back onto some sort of raised, circular platform. As he scrambled to his feet there was a sharp, unpleasant cracking sound.

And then the Blue Psycho Ranger involuntarily demorphed.

In disbelief he started down at his tanned hands and wrists, his Psycho Morpher still attached to his right one. Glancing around he saw another large, circular platform above his head, and behind him there was a four foot-wide, square green pillar of metal which connected the two, like a capital E missing its central strut.

Even in the midst of his growing panic the seventeen year-old's brilliant mind reached the only conclusion which made sense. He was inside a forcefield, one powerful to block the transmission of energy to his Psycho Morpher. He couldn't remorph, he couldn't teleport away, he couldn't do ANYTHING!

As he looked forward again his attacker shimmered into view: the Phantom Ranger!

Justin's assailant turned without a word, going to the pilot's chair of the ship they were in, one even smaller than Darkonda's. Leaning over the console the Phantom Ranger depressed a button.

"Billy, this is the Phantom Ranger. I've done it! I've captured the Blue Psycho Ranger in your forcefield generator! Be ready, I'm bringing him straight to you."

ΩΩΩΩΩ


End file.
